Muguruza claims Svitolina scalp as top women’s seeds tumble

MELBOURNE AFP Jan 25, 2020: Elina Svitolina became the sixth top 10 women's seed to exit in the Australian Open third round after she was well beaten by unseeded Garbine Muguruza on Saturday.

Two-time Grand Slam champion Muguruza won 6-1, 6-2 and faces Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan or Dutch ninth seed Kiki Bertens in the last 16 in Melbourne.

The 26-year-old Spaniard Muguruza, a former world number one but now ranked 32, failed to win two matches in a row last year after the French Open in May-June.

But the 2016 Roland Garros and 2017 Wimbledon champion spent the off-season climbing Mount Kilimanjaro to help clear her mind of tennis -- and it appears to have done the trick.

She seized the first set against fifth-seeded Ukrainian Svitolina in only 23 minutes at Rod Laver Arena.