Muguruza pulls out of San Jose with arm injury
SAN JOSE: Top seed Garbine Muguruza pulled out of the WTA tournament in San Jose with a right arm injury, hours before her opening match.
“I’ve been feeling some pain in my right arm for a couple of days and realized I am not ready to play the match, so hopefully I can recover for the next tournaments,” Muguruza said in a statement.
The Spaniard, bounced from the second round in her title defence at Wimbledon, had been hoping to rebound on the hard courts of San Jose with the US Open looming in less than a month.
Muguruza’s withdrawal follows the shock first-round exit of 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams, who fell 6-1, 6-0 to Britain’s Johanna Konta on Tuesday.
Williams, seeded sixth and playing her first match since she was beaten in the Wimbledon final by Angelique Kerber, suffered the most lopsided defeat of her career.
KONTA CRUISES
LOS ANGELES: Britain’s Johanna Konta continued her dominance over American competition with a 6-1, 6-4 dismantling of Sofia Kenin at the Silicon Valley Classic on Wednesday.
Konta’s service game was once again sharp as she fired nine aces while winning 72 percent of her first serves and 81 percent of her second against the American teenager on a sun-soaked day at San Jose State University.
Konta, a champion at the tournament two years ago, will face fourth seed Elise Mertens in the quarterfinals after the 22-year-old Belgian cruised to a 6-2, 6-0 win over American Ashley Kratzer.
STEPHENS LOSES
WASHINGTON: Sloane Stephens’ preparations for her U.S. Open title defence suffered a setback on Wednesday when she was shocked 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 by German Andrea Petkovic in the second round of the Citi Open.
After a straight sets victory over compatriot Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Stephens had looked poised for another uncomplicated outing as she strolled through the first set against Petkovic. But Stephens’ hefty error count of 38 eventually cost the world No 3.
MURRAY ADVANCES
WASHINGTON: Former world No 1 Andy Murray took another big step in his comeback from hip surgery by beating fellow Brit Kyle Edmund 7-6(4), 1-6, 6-4 in the second round of the Citi Open on Wednesday.
The 31-year-old Scot blasted a backhand cross-court return winner on match point to end the two-and-a-half hour contest and dispatch the fourth seed.
“Much better in terms of the way I played. I was able to be more aggressive. I wanted to dictate more points and be inside the baseline, especially on the main points and particularly in the third set,” Murray said.