AFP, New York :
French Open champion Garbine Muguruza and Wimbledon runner-up Milos Raonic were knocked out of the US Open on Wednesday as Novak Djokovic was handed a free pass into the last 32.
Third seeded Spaniard Muguruza, who has struggled in the aftermath of her Roland Garros breakthrough in June slumped to a 7-5, 6-4 loss to Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova, the world number 48.
A horribly out of sorts Muguruza rallied from 1-5 down in the second set, saving three match points, but Sevastova, who quit the sport in 2013 to study leisure management, held her nerve for the victory.
Having not won a match at the US Open in five years before this week, 26-year-old Sevastova now goes on to face Kateryna Bondarenko, a 5-7, 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 winner over China’s Zheng Saisai.
“This us why I came back to the sport for the big stages like this and night sessions at the Slams. But I was shaking a little at the end,” she said.
Meanwhile, 120th-ranked Ryan Harrison of the United States stunned fifth seeded Raonic 6-7 (4/7), 7-5, 7-5, 6-1 in another second round upset.
“It was extremely physical out there. I was playing on adrenaline,” said 24-year-old qualifier Harrison who was as high as 43 in the world in 2012.
He goes on to face experienced Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis for a place in the last 16.
Raonic, considered as a potential title dangerman in New York, hit 18 aces and 69 winners but committed 62 unforced errors.
Harrison has now reached the third round of a Slam for the first time after recording just a second win over a top 10 opponent in 27 meetings.
“I started cramping midway through the second set. There was a lot of nerves and stress. It was a result of over-exuberance,” said 25-year-old Raonic who claimed that the pain eventually spread to his back and arms and that, as a result, he was unable to carry his bags.
World number one Djokovic made the last 32 of a major for the 33rd successive time without hitting a ball when Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic withdrew from their second round encounter suffering an inflammation of the left forearm.
Djokovic will face 34-year-old Russian Mikhail Youzhny, twice a semi-finalist, on Friday for a place in the last 16.
Former number one Caroline Wozniacki, the US Open runner-up in 2009 and 2014 but who has slipped to 74 in the world after a season decimated by a right ankle injury, defeated 2004 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-4.
The 26-year-old Dane recovered from 0-4 down in the first set to record a seventh win in eight meetings and third in New York over the ninth-seeded Russian.
