The second half of the China Open second round brought the biggest seeded casualty possible.
World No. 1 Elena Rybakina was stunned by No. 118 Alina Charaeva, leading a group of five seeded players from the top half of the draw who failed to reach the third round. Xinyu Wang, Anna Kalinskaya, Cristina Bucsa and Leylah Fernandez joined her on the way out.
That means 11 of the original 32 seeds are already gone after the complete second round, following the six departures from the other half of the draw a day earlier.
The damage at the very top was nevertheless uneven.
Coco Gauff needed three sets but survived, Iga Swiatek moved through comfortably and Elina Svitolina recovered from a disastrous opening set.
Jelena Ostapenko, dressed in a dazzling magenta outfit, sailed through in straight sets against the in-form Paula Badosa.
Qinwen Zheng also advanced on home soil, while 16-year-old wildcard Sun Xinran continued her remarkable Beijing run.
Gauff Survives a Three-Set Test as Sun Xinran Keeps Going
Coco Gauff was pushed hard by Camila Osorio before the No. 3 seed eventually came through 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-2.
Her reward is one of the most intriguing matches of the third round.
Sixteen-year-old Sun Xinran defeated No. 27 seed Cristina Bucsa 6-4, 7-5, giving Beijing a meeting between one of the tournament’s biggest stars and its biggest teenage revelation.
The other seeds in the section held.
No. 24 Jelena Ostapenko defeated Paula Badosa 7-6(5), 7-5, while No. 13 Elise Mertens survived Katie Volynets 6-0, 4-6, 7-5.
That leaves Gauff-Sun and Ostapenko-Mertens as a particularly attractive pair of third-round matches.
Zheng Advances as Rybakina’s Section Opens Up
The biggest result of the round had already come earlier, when Alina Charaeva stunned world No. 1 Elena Rybakina 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. We covered that upset separately in a dedicated match report.
The consequences for this part of the draw were immediate.
No. 31 Xinyu Wang was beaten 6-3, 6-2 by Sonay Kartal, while No. 15 Anna Kalinskaya retired against Qinwen Zheng with the Chinese wildcard leading 3-0 in the deciding set. Zheng had lost the opener in a tiebreak before recovering to take the second 6-4.
No. 18 seed Marie Bouzkova avoided the turbulence, beating Kimberly Birrell 6-4, 6-4.
The third-round picture now has Charaeva facing Kartal, while Zheng meets Bouzkova.
Svitolina Recovers After Losing the First Set 6-1
Unlike the Rybakina section, the entire Svitolina group kept its seeded players.
Elina Svitolina, seeded No. 6, had the most difficult route.
Katerina Siniakova swept through the opening set 6-1 before Svitolina reversed the match, taking the next two 6-4, 6-2.
No. 9 Belinda Bencic beat Anastasia Zakharova 6-1, 7-6(3), while No. 21 Ann Li defeated Ashlyn Krueger 6-4, 6-2.
Maria Sakkari, the No. 25 seed, produced the most straightforward result of the section with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over qualifier Storm Hunter.
The reward is a third round with all four seeds still present: Bencic against Li and Sakkari against Svitolina.
Swiatek Cruises but Fernandez Falls
There was little drama for Iga Swiatek.
The No. 8 seed beat Chinese wildcard Xinyu Gao 6-2, 6-3, becoming another of the leading names to reach the third round without needing a deciding set.
No. 10 Iva Jovic had considerably more work to do.
Harriet Dart took the opening set 6-2 before Jovic responded to win 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Donna Vekic, seeded No. 30, also needed three sets against Zhu Lin. Vekic won the first 6-1, lost the second 4-6 and recovered to take the decider 6-2.
The seeded casualty here was Leylah Fernandez.
No. 23 Fernandez lost 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 to Kamilla Rakhimova, who now meets Jovic in the third round.
Swiatek gets Vekic.
Five Seeds Gone From the Top Half
The seeded departures from the top half are:
- No. 1 Elena Rybakina
- No. 15 Anna Kalinskaya
- No. 23 Leylah Fernandez
- No. 27 Cristina Bucsa
- No. 31 Xinyu Wang
The number is slightly lower than the six seeded exits produced by the other half of the draw.
The difference is where the damage landed.
That earlier group lost No. 14 Jasmine Paolini as its highest seed. This time Beijing lost the player sitting at the very top of the draw.
Gauff, Swiatek and Svitolina are still there. Zheng remains alive at home. Sun Xinran has suddenly become one of the stories of the tournament.
But Rybakina’s disappearance has changed the shape of this half more than any collection of smaller upsets could have done.