World number three Angelique Kerber suffered a surprise loss to Ashleigh Barty in the Wuhan Open third round on Wednesday.

Kerber, a 2015 semi-finalist at the WTA Premier event, was beaten 7-5 6-1 by the Australian.

The three-time grand slam champion put just 46 per cent of first serves in and produced six double faults in her defeat.

Barty – last year's runner-up – took her chances, converting four of seven break points, while Kerber created as many but only capitalised on one.

"She's always very difficult to play against, she's one of the best players in the world," Barty said after her win.

"You know you have to come out here, enjoy it, have fun and try and play as well as you can."

The win was Barty's second in four meetings with Kerber, and the 16th seed will face either Petra Kvitova or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarter-finals.