Aryna Sabalenka suffered another setback on Monday as she squandered a one-set lead to lose to Ann Li in the second round of the Wuhan Open.
World number two Sabalenka was upset 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) by 31st-ranked Ann Li in the second round at the WTA 1000 event on Monday.
Sabalenka was the top seed in Wuhan in the absence of world number one Elena Rybakina, and she received a first round bye.
The four-time Grand Slam champion looked close to claiming a decisive victory when she led by a set and a break at 6-4, 4-2, but she lost the next five games.
The Belarusian star then saved seven match points as she battled back from 2-5 down in the third set, only to narrowly lose in a tiebreak.
Sabalenka has now lost three of her last four matches, having fallen in the third round at the China Open earlier this month after her US Open final defeat in September.
Second-seed Jessica Pegula’s Wuhan Open campaign also ended early, with the American falling to Jelena Ostapenko despite holding three match points.
The Latvian recovered from a set down to claim a 2-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-3 victory over last year’s finalist.
The defeat ended Pegula’s run of 22 consecutive opening-match wins at WTA 1000 tournaments. Ostapenko became the first player to beat the American in her opening match at this level since Indian Wells two and a half years ago.
