Wawrinka, Muguruza are dealt setbacks

MELBOURNE, Australia - Stan Wawrinka left it as late as possible before deciding his knee might just be good enough to get him through the Australian Open.

The 2014 champion was being way too ambitious. A 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 loss to No. 97-ranked Tennys Sandgren in the second round was his earliest exit in a decade at Melbourne Park.

“I only had surgery five months ago,” said Wawrinka, who still has a visible scar running down his left knee. “To be that far already, it’s more than what we could have expected.”

On a searing hot day at Melbourne Park when the temperature hit 104, No. 9 Wawrinka, No. 7 David Goffin and No. 13 Sam Querrey were the three seeded players to fall in the men’s draw.

Wawrinka appeared lethargic and generally didn’t threaten 26-year-old Sandgren, who had never beaten a top 10 player. His wins in the first two rounds here make Sandgren 2-0 at majors.

Wawrinka won here in 2014, at the French Open the following year and the U.S. Open in ’16. Until this week, he hadn’t played since Wimbledon last July.

“When you won three Grand Slams, you don’t feel great on the court like today,” he said. “But I need to take what I can to be positive with everything, with the big picture.”

Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza was among the five seeded women to lose on Day 4.

Muguruza struggled with her fitness in the buildup to the Australian Open, hampered at two warmup tournaments by cramping and a thigh problem. Blisters from the hot court surface didn’t help her in a 7-6 (1), 6-4 loss to No. 88-ranked Hsieh Su-wei.

That left only Maria Sharapova, Aneglique Kerber and French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko as Grand Slam winners in the women’s draw.