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Aryna Sabalenka’s torrid run continued as she crashed out of the Wuhan Open in the second round, suffering back-to-back defeats for the first time in a year and a half.
The world No 2 saved nine match points but could not save a 10th as she lost 3-6 6-4 7-6(5) to unseeded Ann Li.
It marked the biggest win of Li’s career but another occasion in which Sabalenka appeared in control before collapsing, with the American fighting back from 4-2 down in the second set to force a decider.
Sabalenka, who has won the title in Wuhan three times, fell 4-1 down in the final set and took a medical timeout but fought back, saving five match points en route to holding serve for 5-3.
But the Belarusian’s error-strewn performance - with 44 unforced errors compared to Li’s 28 - proved the difference, as world No 31 Li held her nerve and eventually clinched victory after two and a half hours.
It has been a disappointing season for four-time grand slam champion Sabalenka. She has not won a title since claiming the ‘Sunshine Double’ at Indian Wells and Miami in March, losing the US Open final and the world No 1 ranking to Elena Rybakina last month, and failed to win a major this year for the first time since 2022.
Her exit at the WTA 1000 tournament in Wuhan followed hot on the heels of a surprise defeat to Czech rising star Nikola Bartunkova at the China Open last week.
Earlier on Wednesday second seed and last year’s runner-up Jessica Pegula also suffered an early exit in her first match in over a month, falling 2-6 7-6(7) 6-3 to former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko.
American Pegula, who took an extended break after reaching the US Open semi-finals after an intense summer, squandered three match points as Latvia’s Ostapenko fought back in the second set to force a decider.