It was a second round match up between the highest seeded player left in the tournament, Garbiñe Muguruza, and American Varvara Lepchenko. The second meeting between the two was a tight affair. But Muguruza was forced to retire with a left foot injury as Lepchenko progressed to the quarterfinals 7-6(9), 1-0.

Tight First Set 

Muguruza got off to a perfect start holding to love. She followed that up with her first break point opportunity right in the next game which the nervous Lepchenko gifted with a double fault. The Spaniard however couldn't consolidate the break as a string of errors and a shank allowed Lepchenko to break right back. The left handed American reeled off another game to make it two games all.

The match continued in a tight manner with both players holding serve. But it was the American who created a few more break chances as she was finding her groove. The second seed continued to saved the break points even under pressure. Lepchenko did not utilize her chances to break as Muguruza sealed the 12th game to set up a tiebreak. The American got the first mini-break in the tiebreaker to go up 3-2. It was fast becoming a back and forth game.

But the error count was mounting for the Spainard. The American got herself to set point at 6-5 on Muguruza's serve. Muguruza calmly hitting the ball with enough depth to save it. The Spaniard seemed to be gifting the set as another error saw another chance for the American to win the set. The world number three was not making it any easier by saving it with a blistering backhand. It went the same with Muguruza having the errors, and Lepchenko not converting set points. Finally at set point number five, Lepchenko sealed the set as Muguruza fired into the net.

Medical Timeout For Muguruza 

Something was not right as Muguruza called for the trainer. It appeared her left foot was bothering her, and she was contemplating for quite awhile before deciding to get it taped. A medical timeout was sorted and her foot was taped further. The Spaniard was not looking good, and the crowd was not helping as they were getting unsettled. With seeds withdrawing, they did not want a retirement of any sort.

Muguruza Retires
 

Getty Images
Getty Images

With medical time out over, the game resumed on Lepchenko's serve. The world number three was not moving well ,and all eyes were on her to see if she would continue after the game. The Spaniard however decided she cannot go on as she said "I can't even walk now, it's getting worse" to the umpire. Lepchenko goes through at the expense of Muguruza's injury. A sad end to an otherwise close match.

Statistics

Lepchenko had twice as many break points as Muguruza at four, but they each only broke once in a tight first set. The American was winning more of her first serve points at 79 percent compared to Muguruza's 54 percent. It did not help that the world number three hit 27 unforced errors to Lepchenko's 16.

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About the author
Pavitra Ganesan
Tennis enthusiast and aspiring journalist.