WUHAN: A frustrated Aryna Sabalenka suffered a second successive early exit as her bid for a fourth Wuhan Open title was foiled by American world number 31 Ann Li 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) in round two on Wednesday.
The top-seeded Sabalenka fell to Nikola Bartunkova in the third round at the China Open last week and squandered a 6-3, 4-2 lead against Li to stumble at her very first hurdle in Wuhan.
The Belarusian four-time major winner lost her number one ranking to Elena Rybakina last month and has not won a title since March.
Playing with protective taping around her right knee, Sabalenka was in control of the match until Li swung the momentum in her direction halfway through the second set.
Sabalenka asked for the trainer when she was broken early in the decider and appeared to be struggling with her movement. Still, she was able to wipe a 2-5 deficit, saving nine match points along the way.
Li steadied the ship, though, and finished the job in two hours and 27 minutes on her 10th opportunity, to set up a last-16 clash with Indonesia's Janice Tjen.
Meanwhile, second-seeded Jessica Pegula, the runner-up in Wuhan last year, was also sent packing.
The American suffered a 2-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-3 upset at the hands of Jelena Ostapenko, wasting three match points en route.
Ostapenko is the first player to beat Pegula in her opening match at a WTA 1000 event since Indian Wells two and a half years ago, snapping Pegula's 22-event winning streak in openers at this level.
Relentless Swiatek
Earlier, six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek launched her Wuhan Open campaign by triumphing 6-2, 6-1 in an all-Polish battle against lucky loser Magdalena Frech.
Swiatek posted her 40th victory of the season in one hour and 42 minutes and no longer has Sabalenka as a potential roadblock in the quarter-finals.
"We know each other pretty well, so I just wanted to focus on being consistent and playing as good as possible," Swiatek, the seventh seed, said of Frech.
"I know she is running to every ball always and sometimes using the power of the opponent, so I wanted to not play too crazy but play solid and I’m happy that I did that," said Swiatek, who is chasing a qualification spot for the year-end WTA Finals.
Despite the lopsided scoreline the opening set was tight, lasting over an hour and requiring Swiatek to erase a 0-2 deficit and save seven of eight break points before she finally took the lead on her fourth set point.
Upping the pressure with her relentless forehand, Swiatek breezed through the second set to advance to a round of 16 meeting with American lucky loser Ashlyn Krueger.
Wimbledon finalist Karolina Muchova weathered a three-hour storm to come through 3-6, 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (7/4) against American qualifier Caty McNally to extend her record in tiebreaks this season to a perfect 10-0.
The sixth-seeded Muchova will face Diana Shnaider in the round of 16.
British world number 170 Sonay Kartal, who missed six months this year with a spinal stress fracture, upset ninth-seeded Belinda Bencic 6-0, 7-5 to book a third-round date with Italian 15th seed Jasmine Paolini.