​FILE PHOTO – Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka plays a backhand return against USA’s McCartney Kessler during their Women’s Singles second-round match on Day Three of the 2026 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. (is associated with: «Sabalenka suffers another early defeat, Pegula also out in Wuhan») Adam Davy/PA Wire/dpaAryna Sabalenka’s troubles deepened with another early exit at the Wuhan Open on Wednesday.Having lost her world number one ranking to Elena Rybakina at the US Open, Sabalenka has now suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time since February 2025.Beaten by Nikola Bartunkova in Beijing last week, Sabalenka fell to a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) loss against American Ann Li in a roller-coaster encounter.It was another contest where Sabalenka appeared in control only to falter, with the top seed leading by a set and 4-2 then trailing 5-2 in the decider and saving nine match points before Li finally took her 10th opportunity.Second seed Jessica Pegula was also beaten, missing three match points in a 2-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-3 loss to Jelena Ostapenko.Seventh seed Iga Swiatek eased into the third round with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over fellow Pole Magdalena Frech.Britain’s Sonay Kartal dumped world number 12 Belinda Bencic 6-0, 7-5, fighting back from 3-1 down in the second set against the 2021 Olympic champion.Bencic is the highest-ranked player Kartal has beaten after then world number five Mirra Andreeva in the Chinese capital last year. Kartal missed six months of the season with a stress fracture in her back, returning last month at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals.”Very happy with how I played in that match, the composure,” Kartal said. “I think I saw snippets from my tennis six months ago.”Kartal, who will next face two-time grand slam singles finalist Jasmine Paolini, is ranked down at 170 following her injury break but is already guaranteed to leap around 40 spots.