Alize Cornet runs over Garbine Muguruza in straight sets stunner

Alize Cornet celebrates her straight-sets defeat of Garbine Muguruza during the second round of the Australian Open. 

Alize Cornet scored a massive upset with a fine form of tennis at the Australian Open Thursday. Garbine Muguruza didn’t come out with her game together, allowing the French star to win 6-3, 6-3 on Rod Laver Arena at Melbourne Park. The Spaniard had 33 unforced errors that tore her offense apart and let the 32-year-old march through with ease. 

The two met several times but only completed three matches out of four. Both retired to each other in the past but last year, they had their longest moment on the court, going three sets in Berlin which Cornet won. Muguruza had the French star on the hardcourt, but caution was necessary with the 32-year-old, who had her moments of striking where the key impact was made. Both of them handled the challenges from their opponents but with their moment to clash and a third-round spot on the line, the third seed would play with a target on her back that Cornet could focus on. 

She opened service with a lot of defensive acts that did the trick, causing Muguruza to err. When it was her turn, the Spaniard found herself down 0-40 but found a way to force deuce. Cornet played hard for the AD point chances and broke Muguruza on the second break. With a decent two-game winning streak, the French star continued her stance despite committing a double fault and held serve.  

Sitting down three games didn’t sit well with the third seed and even when she trailed on her serve, the 28-year-old fought to contain the fourth game. The slip-up of her winning streak didn’t bother Cornet as she managed to continue holding serve, taking a 4-1 lead. Muguruza had a better handling of her service scoring winners from the forehand and backhand. With the lead cut in half, Cornet notched another double fault but held her opponent back to sit pretty at 5-2 against the third seed. 

Muguruza opened the eighth and had a tough time being the aggressor on the court. She fought to save two set points and force deuce before launching a cross-court ace. Cornet busted on returns that landed long of the baseline but still had a two-game buffer. It was her turn to serve for the set and on the third point, Cornet brilliantly read every return from Muguruza to serve with three more set points. One got away from her but the next was gifted on a wide return from the Spaniard ending 47 minutes. Though she had 16 unforced errors, it did enough damage to her game to put her a set down. 

Both opened the second set with holds of serve allowing only one point being won by the opposition. The third was heavily fought over but Muguruza managed to come through and hold serve. Cornet focused on consistency and score a serve to love to keep her pace. She backed it up with a break that took the wind out of the Spaniard, who went done 4-2 with another service game locked down for Cornet. 

Muguruza scored a shutout in the seventh but the damage had been done. Cornet was coasting to a victorious upset winning the next two games with a break to love and ending the third seed in 1 hour and 27 minutes.