Kazakh tennis player Alexander Bublik (world No. 357) and China's Shang Juncheng (587) failed to reach the doubles final at the ATP 500 tournament in Beijing. In the semifinals, the Kazakh-Chinese pair lost 4-6, 4-6 to Dutchmen Sander Arends (47) and David Pel (49), infohub.kz reports.
Reaching the semifinals was itself a sensation: by ranking, the two players had not been among the entrants for the China Open. But after receiving a wild card from the organizers, they came within a match of the final.
In the first set, a Dutch break in the fifth game proved decisive — 6-4. Arends and Pel opened the second set by breaking their opponents' serve again. Bublik and his partner fought back with a break in the eighth game, but could not back it up. After 62 minutes, the Dutch pair closed out the match 6-4, 6-4. The winners' advantage in total points won was emphatic — 64-42.
Elena Rybakina exited the China Open 2026 women's draw a day earlier. In the second round, the world No. 1 lost to the 118th-ranked player. Alina Charaeva, a native of Samara who has been playing under the Armenian flag since July, won 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
The world No. 2 also lost in Beijing today. Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka fell to Nikola Bartunkova (34) in the third round, 4-6, 3-6. Sabalenka did not break the Czech player's serve once in the entire match.
The China Open tennis tournament is being held this year for the 25th time on the men's side (ATP 500) and the 27th time on the women's side (WTA 1000). The total prize pool is $9.4 million.
Over the years, the prestigious hard-court tournament in the Chinese capital has been 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 — Italy's Jannik Sinner (1) and American Amanda Anisimova (11) — are not competing in this year's tournament.