MELBOURNE: The surprises started early at the Australian Open on Day 4, with third-seeded Garbiñe Muguruza becoming the highest-seeded player to exit the women’s draw just minutes after No. 6 Anett Kontaveit lost.
Muguruza never managed to earn a single breakpoint and made a whopping 33 unforced errors, more than twice her opponent’s total, in a 6-3, 6-3 loss to Alize Cornet under a bright blue and cloudless sky at Rod Laver Arena on Thursday.
“A little bit surprised about my level. I am a little disappointed, too,” said Muguruza, who won the season-ending WTA Finals in 2021. ”I feel like my shots weren’t as accurate and precise. I feel, also, my aggressive game wasn’t that aggressive today.”
Here’s how unexpected that result was: Muguruza is a two-time Grand Slam champion and a two-time major runner-up, too, including making it to the final at the Australian Open in 2020.
And the 61st-ranked Cornet? She’s appearing in her 63rd career major tournament — and 60th in a row — but never has been beyond the fourth round. Cornet will get a chance to equal that showing when she plays Saturday, her 32nd birthday. She called herself “a little bit (of) a dinosaur.”
“I don’t know how many years I have left,” Cornet said. “Today was a perfect gift I could give myself and I really hope the journey’s going to go even farther for me.” No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka served a dozen double-faults in the first set and appeared to be on the brink of a second-round defeat before recovering to hold off 100th-ranked Wang Xinyu 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Sam Stosur’s 6-2, 6-2 loss to No. 10 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova ended the 2011 U.S. Open champion’s 20th, and last, singles campaign at the Australian Open. “I’ve done more than I ever thought possible. I dreamed of winning a Grand Slam (singles title), and I couldn’t have asked for anything more,” Stosur told the crowd in Kia Arena.
