Muguruza, Konta ousted from Australian Open

Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza lost 7-6 (7), 6-4 to Hsieh Su-Wei while Johanna Konta lost to lucky loser Bernarda Pera 6-4, 7-5.

Published : Jan 18, 2018 09:45 IST

Spain's Garbine Muguruza reacts during her second round match against Taiwan's Hsieh Su-Wei.

Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza became the biggest casualty of the Australian Open so far — stunned by Taiwan's Hsieh Su-Wei in straight sets on Thursday.

The third seed, whose preparation was hampered by a thigh injury, was always trailing against the world number 88 before losing 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 in one hour and 59 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.

Hsieh, whose previous best at Melbourne Park was a last-16 defeat to Justine Henin 10 years ago, goes on to meet 26th seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in the third round.

Earlier, Johanna Konta fell to a shock second-round loss at the Australian Open as lucky loser Bernarda Pera's dream run continued in Melbourne.

Pera stunned the British ninth seed 6-4, 7-5 in a huge upset at Melbourne Park on Thursday.

The American, 23, is making her main-draw debut at a grand slam after replacing the injured Margarita Gasparyan.

Pera had been beaten by Viktorija Golubic in the final round of qualifying, but the left-handed world number 123 has taken her chance in the main draw.

She made the most of an error-filled performance by Konta, who had reached at least the quarterfinals the past two years at the Australian Open.