BEIJING — Aryna Sabalenka suffered another early exit at the China Open, falling 4-6, 3-6 to Nikola Bartunkova in the third round after opening with victory over Renata Zarazua. The defeat ended her hopes of bouncing back from her US Open final loss to Elena Rybakina and extended a difficult spell for the world No.2, who has not won a WTA title since completing the Sunshine Double in March.
Serena Williams’ coach Rennae Stubbs pinpointed confidence as the central issue during the latest episode of the ‘Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast’. “Sabalenka has lost her never-endings. They are gone. She has just lit them on fire, and she does not know how to bring them back anymore. Her confidence level is so low,” she said.
Stubbs contrasted Sabalenka’s reaction with that of Coco Gauff and argued the Belarusian lacks an alternative when her power game misfires. “She doesn’t show it in the same way as some people would. Like when Coco [Gauff] gets upset, you see her look [forlorn]. Sabalenka just gets angry and just looks at her player’s box, and says fix this for me. But it’s not possible,” she said. “It is a different sort of anger and a different level of frustration that she is showing on the court. She has no game plan B. The difference with Coco is that she could be playing with 20 double faults and not making a forehand, and she will try to find a way and play ugly. She is the epitome of winning ugly. She will try to figure out a way to win; even if game A isn’t there, she will go to plan B, C, D, E, or F if she needs to, but Sabalenka does not have game plan B at all.”
When that Plan A functions, Sabalenka remains by far the best player in the world. The 28-year-old spent 107 weeks as world No.1 and has won four Grand Slam titles, and this year alone she won the Brisbane International and the Sunshine Double before reaching the Australian Open final in January. Since the beginning of April, however, she is 24-9 (72.7%) at tour level without a title, has slipped to second in the WTA rankings, and — alongside Gauff and Iga Swiatek — went without a major title in 2026.
Sabalenka is scheduled to return at the Wuhan Open, where she will compete as the top seed following Rybakina’s withdrawal. The Belarusian is the most successful player in the tournament’s history and will be determined to rediscover winning form in central China. Twelve months ago she lost 6-2, 4-6, 6-7 to Jessica Pegula in the semi-finals, and the 2026 edition begins on 12 October.