Only one player in WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz history had lost her first match as World No. 1 entering the week. Make it two after No. 118 Alina Charaeva rallied from a set down to upset Elena Rybakina 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in 2 hours and 11 minutes on Saturday night in Beijing.
Beijing: Scores | Order of play | Draws
Since the rankings were first published in 1975, Charaeva is just the ninth player outside the Top 100 to defeat the World No. 1 and the lowest-ranked player to claim a comeback win against the World No. 1.
Playing just her 17th tour-level main-draw match, the 24-year-old far surpassed the best win of her career. Her previous top-ranked victory came against No. 31 Wang Xinyu earlier this year. With the upset, Charaeva advanced to the third round of the China Open, where she will face Sonay Kartal.
More to come…