Muguruza Takes Positives From Cincinnati Exit

Garbine Muguruza was pleased with the way she ‘fought’ despite her surprise defeat to Lesia Tsurenko at the Cincinnati Masters. Spanish star Muguruza was the defending champion heading into this year’s tournament at the Lindner Family Tennis Center but she was beaten 2-6 6-4 6-4 in her second-round match against Ukrainian Tsurenko.

Muguruza, who was playing in her first tournament since surprisingly losing to Alison Van Uytvanck at Wimbledon last month, conceded after the match that she had played nowhere near her best, but she was pleased with the battling spirit she showed throughout the three sets.

“It was a very ugly match, but I’m happy that I fought, even if the level wasn’t very high,” said Muguruza. “At the end she managed to come back in the third set and play better and found a way to win the match.”

The 24-year-old wasn’t the only high-profile player to exit the competition at the second-round stage, as Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki was forced to retire from her clash with Kiki Bertens after losing the first set 6-4.

There were no such problems for third seed Sloane Stephens, however, as she eased to a 6-3 6-2 victory over Tatjana Maria to set up a third-round clash with Elise Mertens, while Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber battled back from a set down to beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 4-6 7-5 6-4.