Muguruza stunned by Muchova at US Open

Garbine Muguruza’s 2018 Grand Slam woes continued following a shock loss to Karolina Muchova in the second round at Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Muchova, a 22-year-old Czech qualifier ranked No.202, recovered to beat the 12th seed 3-6 6-4 6-4.

In a late-night match spanning almost two-and-a-half hours, Muchova finally sealed victory after 1am local time.

A stunning upset in Louis Armstrong Stadium as qualifier Karolína Muchová defeats Muguruza 3-6, 6-4, 6-4!

In just her 3rd tour level match, she will now face Ash Barty in R3…#USOpen pic.twitter.com/0dfiBCWlRb

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 30, 2018

Aside from a semifinal run at Roland Garros in June, Muguruza also fell in the second round at the Australian Open and at Wimbledon.

Before her US Open campaign, Muchova had never won a tour-level main draw match.

But displaying a powerful yet nuanced game that drew plenty of praise on social media, she is now through the the third round of a major tournament, where she will face No.18 seed Ash Barty.

How is @KaroMuchova7 only ranked 202??? What am I missing….Love her game! Great slice and not scared to come in either. @usopen

— Rob Koenig (@RobKoenigTennis) August 30, 2018

Earlier on Wednesday, the Australian got past a tough opponent in former world No.5 Lucie Safarova.

Muguruza began strongly in opening a 5-0 first-set lead, although she let the Czech back into the match momentarily before closing it out four games later.

She then recovered from 1-4 to 4-4 in the second set and had a game point for 5-5 before Muchova broke serve to send the match to a decider.

Muguruza then led 2-0 with a break in the final set, yet couldn’t put her opponent away.

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Rarely does the powerful Spaniard get outhit, but on this occasion Muchova led the winner count 41-27 (including eight aces to three) and showed a willingness to attack the net, approaching it 37 times for a 57 per cent success rate.

Muguruza, a former world No.1, joins current world No.1 Simona Halep on the sidelines. The duo were both in the top quarter of the draw, where the focus in now squarely on the Serena-Venus third-round clash.

Ninth seed Julia Goerges was another highly-ranked player to fall on Wednesday; the German lost in a quasi-upset to former world No.8 Ekaterina Makarova, who was a US Open semifinalist in 2014 and a quarterfinalist in 2013.