Sara Bejlek, the Czech, achieved an upset 7-6 (7), 6-4 win over World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka on Wednesday, in the fourth round of the Cincinnati Masters.
Bejlek started the match down an early break as Sabalenka took a 2-0 lead. However, Sara worked her way back into the set using her crafty game. Both of them exchanged another round of service breaks before heading into a tiebreak, where Bejlek built a 5-1 lead.
Sabalenka fought back to 5-5; however, Bejlek was able to close out the first set 7-6 (9-7) on her third set point in the tiebreak.
After that, Sabalenka built a lead of 4-1, but once again the youngster found a way to level the set at 4-4.
Sara earned another break to go up 5-4 and then served out the match to love to complete the 7-6, 6-4 win.
With the win, Bejlek progresses to her first WTA 1000 quarter-final, following previous quarter-final appearances in Prague in 2025 and 2026, as well as in Abu Dhabi and Athens in 2026.
“I feel incredible,” a shocked Bejlek said after the win. “I lost totally my words. I just keep believing and that was the key today. She played amazing tennis and I was just believing, keep fighting and I was just trying my best and that’s it.”
She will next face American and 2019 champion Madison Keys, in her first ever WTA 1000 quarterfinal.
