Currently ranked third in the WTA circuit, the 23-year-old Garbine Muguruza has made a perfect start in New York. Seeded third at the last Major of the season, Muguruza will try to surpass her best result in New York which is way below her standard. The last two editions saw the young player unable to get past the second round, but this year she might change that. She has the momentum on her side after a successful summer with her winning the 2017 Wimbledon Championships and the Premier 5 event in Cincinnati where she crushed the world No. 1 contender Simona Halep in a blitz final.
The round of 128 at Flushing Meadows had Muguruza opposing the 31-year-old American player Varvara Lepchenko (64 WTA).
Muguruza dispatched Lepchenko in a bit over an hour of play
Entering their third encounter on a WTA level event and the first one since January 2016, the head to head stats was 1-1. But, there was no time or place for Lepchenko to do something out of ordinary as Garbine Muguruza was poised to dismantle the opposition in thousands of pieces. The opening set was pretty much one-sided with Muguruza completely crushing the American. It was a perfect set of tennis for the Spaniard who lost only one single point while serving. IN about 20 minutes the opening act landed on Muguruza's pocket by 6-0.
The second act had some variety attached to it. Despite Muguruza being so dominant, Lepchenko found a way to put her feet into this match. She even went on breaking Muguruza's serve at 4-3 but had no further resources to put in towards the end of the set. Muguruza won the act by 6-3 and is one of the first ones who has booked herself a spot in the round of 64.
Muguruza shares the quarter with Wozniacki, Kvitova, Venus Williams
Last year's semifinalist and two-time US Open runner-up, Caroline Wozniacki will start a new bid in her favorite Grand Slam tournament. She is set to play against a qualifier Mihaela Buzarnescu in the inaugural round later today. For Muguruza, Wozniacki might be the biggest threat of that third quarter of the draw.
But, there are others who may give her a rough time as Petra Kvitova, Magdalena Rybarikova or Venus Williams are in the same slot.
After a first strange part of 2017, Muguruza has turned her season the other way around by winning Wimbledon. The summer swing on hard court saw her delivering high-quality tennis especially at Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. Having so little to defend from last year, she is entitled to hope for another breakthrough in New York. The 2017 Us Open may see her emerging as the new world No. 1.
