Belinda Bencic, Belarusian Sabalenka defending champion Aryna Sabalenka ousted

Shenzhen: Swiss top seed Belinda Bencic and Belarusian defending champion Aryna Sabalenka were both knocked out on a day of upsets at China's Shenzhen Open on Tuesday.

Russia's Anna Blinkova claimed the first top-10 win of her career when she came from behind to beat Bencic 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the first round while Sabalenka was beaten 6-4, 6-4 by the Czech Republic's Kristyna Pliskova in the last-16. Blinkova started poorly against world number eight Bencic and was broken three times in the opening set. But she never dropped her serve thereafter, firing 12 aces and breaking Bencic five times to advance to the second round. Second seed Sabalenka had 11 breakpoints in the match, including nine in the second set, but could not convert even one as a dogged Pliskova served well under intense pressure. It was not a good day for the Chinese either, with Wang Xiyu falling 6-4, 6-3 to third seed Elise Mertens in the last-16 while eighth seed Zhang Shuai was beaten 7-6(10), 6-3 by Kateryna Bondarenko. Agencies

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