Melbourne: Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza struggled with the heat and Hsieh Su-wei’s game before losing 7-6, 6-4 on Day 4 as the upsets intensified at the Australian Open.
No. 3-ranked Muguruza follows Venus Williams and US Open champion Sloane Stephens out of the tournament in the first week, leaving only three major winners still in the women’s draw.
Muguruza had five double-faults, including one to give No. 88-ranked Hsieh a match point, and made 43 unforced errors. She needed a medical time out in the first set, and accidentally hit a ball into a line judge in frustration.
“She’s definitely a very tricky opponent — today she played well,” said Muguruza, acknowledging that the heat was bothersome but it wasn’t the hottest conditions she’d experienced in Australia. “I could have done things better, but at the end, she deserves to win.”
The 32-year-old Hsieh is a former top-ranked doubles player who only had one previous win over a top 10 player and whose career-high singles ranking peaked at 23 in 2013.
Considered one of the contenders for the title after Serena Williams opted against defending her Australian title, Muguruza had a troubled preparation. She retired with cramps in the second round at the Brisbane International and withdrew before her quarter final at Sydney because of a right thigh injury.
With a forecast high of 39C, Maria Sharapova appeared to be in a hurry to get off the Rod Laver Arena court, winning the first set in 23 minutes.
The five-time major winner advanced 6-1, 7-6 over No. 14-seeded Anastasija Sevastova.
“It’s a warm day. I did my job in two sets against someone that’s been troubling in the past for me,” said Sharapova, who missed last year’s tournament while serving a 15-month doping ban. “I think I deserve to smile out there after that victory.”
Ninth-seeded Johanna Konta, the 2016 Australian Open semi-finalist, fended off three match points before losing to American lucky loser Bernarda Pera 6-4, 7-5.
No. 123-ranked Pera is making her Grand Slam debut and, after losing in the last round of qualifying, didn’t even know she had a spot in the main draw until Margarita Gasparyan withdrew with an injury.
“It feels amazing. I was ready to leave on Monday and then they told me I’m in, so I was obviously excited,” Pera said. “I was checking the tickets to fly back. I’m happy I didn’t buy one.”
On whether organisers should be quicker to close the roofs, Konta said: “That’s quite nice for the people who are under the roof. Not so nice for the people who are not. But that’s a tournament decision. I think you deal with whatever comes.”
Fans had come prepared in long sleeves and legionnaire hats, bringing bottled water and food to avoid getting stuck in queues exposed to the sun.
Keith Jenkins, 66, a regular Open goer, sat under a canopy wearing a beige floppy hat and green checked shirt.
“On the outside courts you are in the full sun — you’re just baking. But all the players play the summer circuits, so they’re used to it,” he said.
“Some people say, put the roof on and then it’s just like indoors. There’s no heat conditions, there’s no wind conditions. But then it doesn’t become a battle of attrition.”
Pera will next play No. 20 Barbora Strycova, who beat Lara Arruabarrena 6-3, 6-4.
Also advancing were No. 8 Caroline Garcia and No. 26 Agnieszka Radwanska, who next plays Hsieh.
Lauren Davis beat Andrea Petkovic 4-6, 6-0, 6-0 and has a third-round match against top-ranked Simon Halep.
Former No. 1-ranked Karolina Pliskova advanced to a third-round match against No. 29 Lucie Safarova.
