No. 118 Charaeva stuns Rybakina in her first match as world No. 1!
Alina Charaeva, ranked No. 118, came from a set down to beat Elena Rybakina (No. 1) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in Beijing on Saturday. She is the lowest-ranked player to come back against a world No. 1 since 1975. Rybakina becomes only the second player, after Naomi Osaka, to lose her first match at the top of the rankings.
Alina Charaeva, of Russia, left is congratulated by Elena Rybakina, Beiging 2026 | © AP Photo/Ng Han Guan/SIPA
Elena Rybakina’s first match as world No. 1 ended in defeat. Armenian Alina Charaeva, ranked No. 118, came from a set down to beat the Kazakh top seed 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Saturday afternoon and reach the last 32 of the China Open.
Since the WTA rankings were first published in 1975, no player ranked as low as Charaeva had ever come from behind to beat the world No. 1.
The US Open champion looked in control after taking the first set 6-3 and leading 2-1 in the second. But Rybakina then lost her serve three times: twice in the second set and once more in the third, at 3-2. Charaeva did not let the opportunity pass.
Rybakina becomes only the second player to lose her very first match as world No. 1. The first was Naomi Osaka, who was beaten by Kristina Mladenovic in Dubai in 2019 on her debut at the top of the rankings. Evonne Goolagong, the other special case, never played a match during her spell as world No. 1.
Charaeva, who had beaten Ukrainian Yuliia Starodubtseva 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 in the first round, will face Briton Sonay Kartal next.
