Anastasija Sevastova became the giant killer on Day Three of the US Open Wednesday night. The 31 year old who came out of retirement for the final major of the season took down French Open champion Garbine Muguruza in straight sets 7-5, 6-4 at Arthur Ashe Stadium at the Billy Jean King National Tennis Center. The world number 48 held herself together to outduel the world number three to shake up the ladies draw and move into the third round with the biggest win of her career.
The top Spaniard in the tournament recovered from a tough first round to win it with experience and strength. The same could be said for the Latvian who took down her first round opponent in straight sets. With vulnerabilities showing in Muguruza so early in the tournament, a well-rounded fight from the world number three would be something to see occur in her prime time match.
For the first time for either player, things went well through the first four games as both maintained their serves over on another. It was the fifth when Muguruza took the lead despite having eight unforced errors. She remained in the lead until the eighth when Sevastova won the break back to level things up. The help came from the Spaniard who continued to have trouble with her game racking up 14 unforced errors.
Despite all the issues, she managed to stay out front hoping to get clear of the set in the lead. Sevastova didn’t allow that to happen taking charge on her service holds to force the Spaniard into another tie. The time for superior strength was needed in the late stages of the set but for Muguruza, it was still a struggle.
She had trouble playing well on the returns, leading the Latvian to take the lead. In a shock to some, Sevastova went on to win the set 7-5 making it a big move to occur on center court after 55 minutes. Muguruza had a total of 27 unforced errors returning 21 of 52 shots across court. With her have another rough outing, getting back on track was more than important.
The second set did not start out that was a Sevastova was on the run of her life taking a 3-0 rout of the third seed after just 14 minutes. She made it 4-0 before Muguruza woke up and smelled defeat. The Spaniard attacked with all she had to climb back even during times where the Latvian eyed the upset. She couldn’t put it away in the eighth as Muguruza slowly gained back control of her game. An important win kept Muguruza alive allowing her to serve for a chance to tie in the set.
It would not be the night for her to get it done as Sevastova handled the shots from Muguruza easily getting to double match point that allowed her to bring down one of the biggest names in women’s tennis. “I was shaking a little bit at the end but it’s amazing,” Sevastova said to ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi after winning the match. “On Ashe and on a night match, what can be bigger?”
For Muguruza, the loss was a huge defeat in what was considered an amazing season for her. In the match against Sevastova, she committed 38 unforced errors and had a first serve percentage below 50 percent.
With the first of the top four seeds out of the draw, the tournament takes an interesting turn for all the remaining players including Sevastova who would take on Ukraine’s Kateryna Bondarenko on Friday.
Photo by: Alex Goodlett/Getty Images
Photo by: Alex Goodlett/Getty Images
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