Twenty-year-old Czech Sara Bejlek delivered the biggest upset of the 2026 season, eliminating world number one Aryna Sabalenka 7-6(9/7), 6-4 in the fourth round of the Cincinnati Open on Wednesday night.
Bejlek, ranked 35th in the world, showed remarkable composure as she rallied from 1-5 down in the opening-set tiebreak to stun the four-time Grand Slam champion at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. The match, played under rainy conditions, concluded shortly after midnight local time.
Sabalenka appeared to be cruising when she built a commanding lead in the tiebreaker, but the young Czech refused to buckle under pressure. Bejlek won eight of the next nine points to snatch the set 9-7 in a tiebreak that lasted over an hour on its own.
The momentum shift carried into the second set, where Bejlek broke the Belarusian three times despite falling 1-4 behind early. She sealed the victory with a love game capped by an ace — her third of the match — to claim her first career win over a top-10 opponent.
"I lost my words — it feels incredible," Bejlek said in her post-match interview. "I was playing what I was feeling and not really thinking. I was trying not to be nervous and just play. I believed in myself no matter what."
The defeat extends a difficult run for Sabalenka heading into the US Open, which begins on August 30. The world number one was eliminated in the fourth round at the Toronto Masters last week, lost in the same round at Wimbledon, and exited in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros.
Bejlek, who won the Abu Dhabi hard court title in February as a qualifier, now faces American Madison Keys in the quarterfinals. The Czech is enjoying a breakthrough season that has seen her rise from outside the top 50 into genuine contention at WTA 1000 events.
The women's draw was not the only source of shocks on a chaotic fourth-round day in Cincinnati. On the ATP side, American Tommy Paul saved a match point to defeat second-seeded Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-6(8/6), 6-4 in a rain-interrupted encounter.
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