Garbine Muguruza stunned by Karolina Muchova at the US Open

New York: Czech qualifier Karolina Muchova stunned two-time Grand Slam champion Garbine Muguruza at the US Open on Wednesday, dumping the Spaniard out in the second round with a three-set victory.

Muchova, who came into the match against the 12th seed with a world ranking of 202, was understandably nervous from the outset but grew into the contest and eventually prevailed 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in two hours and 27 minutes. 

Meanwhile, Serena and Venus Williams set up a 30th career meeting on Wednesday. 

Six-time champion Serena eased into Friday’s third round encounter against her sister with a 6-2 6-2 win over German world number 101 Carina Witthoeft on the back of 30 winners and 13 aces.

enus, the 2000 and 2001 champion, made the third round for the 17th time with a 6-4 7-5 victory over Camila Giorgi of Italy.

It will mark the earliest the sisters have met at a Slam since the 1998 Australian Open in what was also their first ever clash. 

It will be their sixth face-off in New York. “Friday will be incredibly hard,” said Serena before jokingly hitting back at Venus’s claim that when they last met at a Slam in the final of the 2017 Australian Open her sister had an advantage as it was “two against one.” 

That was a reference to Serena being in the early stages of pregnancy with her daughter Olympia.

Since Venus won their first ever clash in Australia, Serena, bidding for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title, has built up an advantage over the last two decades, enjoying a 17-12 head-to-head superiority.

“We would have liked to have played later but it is what it is. It’s not the end of the world,” added Serena. Venus, 38, and playing her 80th Slam, notched up her 775th career win by seeing off Giorgi.

Defending champion and third seed Sloane Stephens also made the third round with a marathon 4-6 7-5 6-2 win over Ukraine qualifier Anhelina Kalinina.

Stephens triumphed after 2 hours and 46 minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium and will next face two-time Australian Open champion and former world number one Victoria Azarenka. 

The American needed treatment on a blistered right hand in the second set as the crushing effect of the heat and humidity took its toll.

However, the 10-minute heat-break between the second and third sets proved a timely boost.

Azarenka, the 2012 and 2013 runner-up, made the third round for the first time in three years with a 6-1 6-2 win against Australian 25th seed Daria Gavrilova.

Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi followed up her first round win over world number one Simona Halep by seeing off Jil Teichmann of Switzerland 6-4 6-3.

However, ninth seeded Julia Goerges, a semi-finalist at Wimbledon, slumped to a 7-6 (12/10), 6-3 defeat to Ekaterina Makarova of Russia.