Muguruza suffers blistering exit to Hsieh
18 Jan 2018 4:36 PM GMT
Melbourne: Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza refused to blame her heat-blistered feet as she became the biggest casualty of the Australian Open so far on Thursday.
The third seed, whose preparation was hampered by a thigh injury, was always trailing against the 88-ranked Hsieh Su-wei from Taiwan before being edged out 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 in one hour and 59 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.
"I maybe could have done things better, but at the end, she deserves to win. That's really it," Muguruza told reporters. Two-time Grand Slam champion Muguruza struggled from the start to keep pace with the tenacious 32-year-old whose last WTA Tour singles title came at Guangzhou back in 2012. The tall Spaniard had a medical timeout at 2-5 in the first set and after having a blistered foot re-taped looked briefly regalvanized. Muguruza said her feet were suffering in the heat as temperatures soared above 39 Celsius (102 Farenheit).
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