Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina, starting a tennis tournament for the first time in the status of tennis queen, lost at the China Open to Alina Charaeva (118) of Armenia – 6:3, 4:6, 3:6. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.

Almost three weeks after the triumph

Almost three weeks have passed since Elena the Beautiful's triumph at the US Open-2026. Rybakina devoted this time to recovery from injury, light training and official events. But tennis life, like any other, does not stand still. China Open-2026 in Beijing is the first tournament our tennis player started in the status of tennis queen.

The match against Charaeva

In the match against Charaeva, a former Russian who has been playing under the flag of Armenia since July, sparkling tennis was hard to expect from Rybakina. Long breaks in playing practice do not pass without a trace. Having taken the first set – 6:3, Elena gave away the second – 4:6, and then the third – 3:6. Alina tried very hard, ran after every ball and eventually forced the favorite to make mistakes. Ultimately achieving the most important victory of her career so far.

Match statistics

The match lasted 2 hours 11 minutes. The ace count was 6:3 in favor of Charaeva, double faults – 7:4 in favor of Rybakina. All points won – 88:83 in favor of the representative of Armenia.

Bublik continues in doubles

Unlike Rybakina, Alexander Bublik (357) continues his performances in Beijing. Having dropped out of the singles, the first racket of Kazakhstan and world No. 20, in tandem with Chinese player Shang Juncheng (587), reached the semifinals of the doubles.

For a place in the final, the Kazakh and the Chinese will face the Dutch duo Sander Arends (47)/David Pel (49).

About the tournament

The China Open tennis tournament is being held this year for the 25th time among men (ATP-500) and for the 27th time among women (WTA-1000). The total prize fund is $9.4 million.

In different years, the prestigious hard-court tournament was won by Michael Chang, Jim Courier, Marat Safin, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Serena Williams, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Maria Sharapova, Caroline Wozniacki, Iga Swiatek and other stars.

The 2025 Beijing champions – Italian Jannik Sinner (1) and American Amanda Anisimova (11) – are not taking part in this year's tournament.