Skip to main content
Tennis Roundup Logo (2)
china-open-2026-day-4 - Alina Charaeva

China Open 2026 Day 4: Charaeva Stuns World No. 1 Rybakina

By: Jun Pasion |
 October 3, 2026

For three days, the possibility remained alive.

Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka had entered Beijing on opposite sides of the draw, leaving open the possibility of another Fire & Ice final.

Alina Charaeva just ended it.

The World No. 118 came from a set down to defeat World No. 1 Rybakina 3–6, 6–4, 6–3, knocking the China Open’s top seed out in her opening match. The anticipated Rybakina–Sabalenka final is gone.

But the bigger story of Day 4 belongs to the player who made it disappear.

Alina Charaeva Overturns the Hierarchy

Rybakina appeared to have established control when she took the opening set 6–3.

Charaeva didn’t go away.

She answered 6–4 in the second and completed the comeback 6–3 in the deciding set, eliminating the newly crowned World No. 1 in 2 hours and 11 minutes.

Charaeva converted five of eight break points, while Rybakina finished with seven double faults.

And the ranking gap makes the result historic.

At No. 118, Charaeva became the lowest-ranked player in WTA rankings history to come from a set down and defeat a reigning World No. 1.

Her reward is a third-round meeting with Sonay Kartal, who defeated No. 31 seed Wang Xinyu 6–3, 6–2.

Suddenly, the player who occupied Rybakina’s opening slot has a Beijing path of her own.

Watch Rybakina vs Charaeva highlights
YouTube video player

Fire & Ice Ends Earlier Than Expected

The result matters beyond one upset because of what Beijing had been building toward.

Rybakina entered the tournament after defeating Sabalenka in the US Open final and taking over the World No. 1 ranking. Beijing placed the two on opposite sides of the draw.

They could meet only in the final.

That possibility lasted exactly until Charaeva completed her comeback.

Sabalenka remains in the tournament and next faces No. 26 seed Nikola Bartunkova. She did not play on Day 4, so this isn’t a Sabalenka story disguised as a Rybakina result.

For our Beijing Seed Story, however, the conclusion is definitive:

Fire remains. Ice is out. There will be no Fire & Ice final in Beijing.

From here, Sabalenka becomes an individual title contender rather than one half of a projected rivalry final.

Sun Xinran’s Breakthrough Is Now Complete

While Charaeva produced the day’s biggest upset, Sun Xinran delivered its most intriguing breakthrough.

The 16-year-old Chinese wild card defeated No. 27 seed Cristina Bucsa 6–4, 7–5.

Unlike Sun’s opening match—when Eva Lys retired with Sun leading 6–1, 3–0—this was her first completed WTA main-draw victory.

And it came against a seeded opponent.

Sun, the junior World No. 1 and currently ranked No. 582, also became the first player born in 2010 to win a completed match at WTA 1000 level or above. The result guarantees her a Top-500 debut.

Now comes a completely different examination:

World No. 3 seed Coco Gauff.

Zheng Qinwen Advances After Kalinskaya Retires

Zheng Qinwen also moved into the third round, although this result needs an asterisk.

No. 15 seed Anna Kalinskaya took the opening set 7–6(4). Zheng responded by taking the second 6–4 and led 3–0 in the deciding set when Kalinskaya retired due to illness.

So this should not be recorded as a conventional completed three-set victory.

Zheng next faces No. 18 seed Marie Bouzkova, who defeated Kimberly Birrell 6–4, 6–4.

Leylah Fernandez Can’t Carry Singapore Momentum Into Beijing

Another recent Tennis Roundup storyline ended quickly.

No. 23 seed Leylah Fernandez, arriving in Beijing after winning Singapore, was beaten by Kamilla Rakhimova 6–2, 4–6, 6–3.

Rakhimova now faces No. 10 seed Iva Jovic, who had to come from a set down herself to defeat qualifier Harriet Dart 2–6, 6–3, 6–3 in 2 hours and 45 minutes.

That’s a nice callback, but I wouldn’t expand it further here. The Singapore → Beijing reversal does the job.

Watch Rakhimova vs Fernandez hightlights
YouTube video player

China Open Day 4: Other Results

Elsewhere, Coco Gauff survived Camila Osorio 7–6(4), 4–6, 6–2, setting up her meeting with Sun.

Jelena Ostapenko defeated Paula Badosa 7–6(5), 7–5 and will face Elise Mertens, while Iga Swiatek beat Gao Xinyu 6–2, 6–3 and next meets Donna Vekic.

Belinda Bencic, Ann Li, Maria Sakkari and Elina Svitolina also advanced.

The complete Day 4 ledger shows something else worth resisting editorially: this wasn’t evidence of some broad Chinese surge. Sun and Zheng advanced, while Wang Xinyu, Zhu Lin and Gao Xinyu exited.

What Comes Next in Beijing

Charaeva now has a different challenge.

Producing one of the tournament’s biggest shocks is one thing. Turning it into a run is another.

She faces Sonay Kartal next.

Sun Xinran gets her first elite measuring stick against Coco Gauff. Zheng Qinwen faces Marie Bouzkova. Jovic meets the woman who stopped Fernandez.

And Sabalenka continues against Bartunkova—but without the final Beijing had teased when the draw first appeared.

For our central storyline, there is nothing left to project.

Fire & Ice came to Beijing on two separate roads.

One of those roads just ended at World No. 118.

Table Of Contents

Sharing is caring!