Qualifier stuns Osaka in Chinese upset

WTA outsider Aliaksandra Sasnovich stunned former winner Naomi Osaka 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 as the qualifier completed a Saturday upset at the China Open to move to the third round.

Sasnovich came from a set and a break down to dismiss the tournament 12th seed who won the 2019 title in the Chinese capital, advancing 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 in just under two hours.

Sasnovich started her fightback as she trailed 3-2 in the second set, but quickly got to work as she broke her former world No. 1 opponent twice to level the sets.

She battered her Japanese opponent with three more breaks of serve to sweep the deciding set.

“Honestly I didn’t believe til the end that I can beat Naomi, because she’s a great player,” the winner said after earning her first defeat of a top 20 opponent in nearly a year and a half (Rome, 2024).

Sasnovich won 10 of the last 13 games and massively improved on her paltry tally of just six winners in the opening set.

Four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka ended with 33 unforced errors in the final two sets as she went down to defeat, with Sasnovich winning back-to-back matches for the first time since February.

She now plays Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk for a spot in the last 16.