Barbora Krejcikova extends her run at the US Open destructing Garbine Muguruza.

Barbora Krejcikova clenched her fist during a hard straight sets fight with Garbine Muguruza at the US Open. 

Garbine Muguruza gave it a great fight but came up short at the US Open early Monday morning. Barbora Krejcikova used the time to keep herself in check during a thrilling two-set match that saw her come through 6-3, 7-6(4) at Arthur Ashe Stadium at the Billy Jean King National Tennis Center. It became her fourth win that continued her maiden run in the final slam. 

This season has been an active battle between the two superstars of the sport. With action on the hard courts, both Muguruza and Krejcikova earned wins over one another. The Czech managed to even the series with the Spaniard in Cincinnati, taking three sets to do so. With a lot on the line for the two, Muguruza would try to supersede her 2017 personal best in New York or allow the world number nine inch closer to taking a second slam championship. 

The Czech opened service with calm and focus to handle the situation and hold service. She moved into the second with redirects of the ball during rallies and a couple of drawn errors that gave her the break. She went on to back both of those wins together and sit in a commanding 3-0 lead. Knowing that she had to avoid the double break, Muguruza dug in to get to deuce against the eighth seed and hold serve after a break. 

The door remained open for the Spaniard, who found her groove but continued to deal with a challenge from Krejcikova. After three breaks, it was a good run to the net that helped the 27-year-old capture a break and serve to tie the score. Muguruza got behind the ball better in the sixth that saw her finish it with an ace. With the comeback a success, the Spaniard attacked the second serve of Krejcikova, who was rattled with errors but managed to dig herself out and end her opponent’s winning streak. 

The 25-year-old made a huge statement in the eighth when she pulled off a shutout of the former world number one before going for the set on serve in the next. Krejcikova worked Muguruza away from the final shot during rallies. The Spaniard fought to force deuce, but the Czech refused to panic and held firm on her end to take the first in 37 minutes. Of the 18 winners recorded, Krejcikova made 11 of them with 76 percent of points in on the first serve. Despite the weakening second serve, getting a leg up on Muguruza was an important moment when going into the second set. 

Muguruza opened the set with errors and her first double fault that allowed Krejcikova to change the pace. With deuce forced by the Czech, the 25-year-old achieved breakpoint, notching her fourth game win. In the second, the crowd quieted to a pin drop while Muguruza struggled to gain any momentum. She fired too many balls behind the baseline and handed Krejcikova the double break on a return square at the net. 

The Czech added another hold to win her seventh against Muguruza, which put her two games from finishing the match. Muguruza played one point at a time with each point that she won applause from the crowd. It led to her getting a victory on serve that ended the seven-game slide and figure a way to tie it. Catching her opponent off guard resulted in a break back for the ninth seed.

With a second win under her belt, Muguruza served the seventh only to hit the ball long too much. Drawing errors from the Czech, the 27-year-old forced deuce from 0-40 down and scored an important service that put her a game down. The eighth game had a fight for dictating the point and who the first to make a mistake would be. After two breaks, it was Muguruza coming through to overcome the deficit and make her push matter. 

She achieved another hold of serve in the ninth that put Krejcikova in a tight spot to overcome her opponent or face a deciding set. The eighth-seeded Czech battled Muguruza through every point that went to deuce. It was a fight for consistency with each of them having half the power to gain control. After four breaks, Krejcikova found a way to seal up the two key points that made it five-all. 

Before the 11^th, the 25-year-old called for the trainer to check out an issue in her midsection, indicating that she might have trouble breathing. She took a medical timeout off the court for evaluation and returned after eight and a half minutes. When she served in the 12^th, the Czech clinched the victory with ease that sent them to a set tiebreak. It was there that she took a 3-0 lead on errors from Muguruza. 

It was becoming clear that the 25-year-old was taking advantage of the time between points which caused the crowd to boo. Krejcikova remained ahead through six points and moved the Spaniard all over before moving up 5-2. Muguruza caught a break on a net bounce and then sat a point down with a line drive winner. An error brought up a match point for the Czech, who drew a final error from Muguruza to end the night with a straight-set result in 1 hour and 53 minutes.