Garbine Muguruza knocked out of the Australian Open by Alize Cornet; Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka also through

ByJames Kilpatrick

Updated 20/01/2022 at 05:08 GMT

Garbine Muguruza looked nervous from the start while Alize Cornet began at a frantic pace and the stategy paid off for the Frenchwoman as she surged past the WTA finals champion in one hour and 28 minutes on Rod Laver Arena. Iga Swiatek was untroubled as she cruised past Rebecca Peterson to reach the third round. You can stream the 2022 Australian Open live and on demand on discovery+.

Garbine Muguruza has been knocked out of the Australian Open in straight sets, losing to France's Alize Cornet 6-3 6-3.

The 2020 Australian Open finalist had no answer to Cornet's aggression form the baseline and it is the first time the Spaniard has fallen at the second round since 2018.

For Cornet, the 31-year-old will be playing in the third round for the first time since 2018.

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'The perfect gift for me' - Cornet delighted with stunning win over Muguruza

"I feel amazing," Cornet said afterwards.

"I think I played a good match out there today and my state of mind was perfect. My mind was super focused on what I had to do and I felt in a bubble. You always have to play such a good match against Garbine. She's such a fighter and even at the end I was one set, one break up and I knew she would not give up a point.

"In two days it's my birthday so I think that is the best gift I can give to myself.

"Hopefully my experience can help me in the next round even though I have no idea who I will be playing because when I saw the draw I stopped at Garbine and was like 'OK, let's see what is going to happen.'"

Cornet disrupted the No 3 seed's rhythm early on and raced into a 3-0 lead in the opening set. Muguruza was forced to rescue a further six break points as Cornet continued to pressure and eventually took the opener on her fourth set point.

Muguruza accumulated a high number of unforced errors in the second set and was unable to muster up a break point herself. Cornet capitalised to go 4-2 up before holding on her service games to seal a memorable victory.

'I didn't feel at all my game' - Muguruza on losing to Cornet

"Tough day," Muguruza said in her post-match press conference. "I didn't feel my game at all. My serve wasn't there, my shots weren't there.

"Tactically didn't make the right decisions and on top of that she was great. I was very surprised with my level."

SWIATEK BREEZES PAST PETERSON

Highlights: Swiatek eases past Peterson into third round

Iga Swiatek has progressed to the third round after easing past Rebecca Peterson 6-2 6-1 on John Cain Arena.

Swiatek is into the third round for the third time in her career having dropped just seven games so far and will be looking to get beyond the fourth round for the first time this year.

She said afterwards. "Grand Slams are never easy and I wanted to start with a lot of confidence for sure. These two matches gave me a lot. I'm finding my rhythm. The weather changed a little bit so I've got to get used to the conditions again. It's great. I love it here.

"In deciding moments I think my serve is pretty good and maybe the percentage on my first serve could be better, but on important points it's giving me a lot of confidence and my movement.

"For sure I have more experience now. I think in both matches I lost here to Kontaveit and Halep I could see they had more experience. Simona changed her tactics in the middle of the match and it was hard for me to adjust.

"Right now I'm also the one that has been on tour for three years so I feel like it's going to be easier for me to adjust and find solutions."

The 2020 French Open winner raced into a 4-0 lead in the opening set. The Swede recovered a break to move to within two games at 4-2, but Swiatek broke back instantly before wrapping up the opening set on her own serve on her fourth set point.

Peterson won her opening service game in the second set before Swiatek, who was starting to make less unforced error, reeled off six games of the remaining seven games.

KONTAVEIT BEATEN BY TAUSON

Highlights: Tauson knocks out Kontaveit in straight sets

No 6 seed Anett Kontaveit has also been knocked out of the Australian Open. She lost 6-2 6-4 to Danish 19-year-old Clara Tauson who reaches the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career.

Tauson won the match in just one hour and 19 minutes to claim her first win over a top 10 player.

SABALENKA SURVIVES SCARE

Highlights: Second seed Sabalenka battles past Wang in three sets

Aryna Sabalenka is into the third round after coming back from an error-strewn first set to beat China's Wang Xinyu 6-1 4-6 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena,

Sabalenka hit 19 double faults but was able to improve her serving as the match progressed. The Bekarusian will play No 31 seed Marketa Vondrousova in the next round.

"She hit really hard and served really well," Sabalenka said after the match. "It's tough to play against her. I tried to stay as low as I can and put the ball back. It's simple.

"I just keep telling myself I have enough shots to win the match even if you cannot serve. I think this kind of mentality helped me to stay in the game and find my serve."

The world No 2 seed's serving badly let her down in the first set as she registered a remarkable 12 double faults and had to succumb to dropping the opener.

In the second set Sabalenka's serving improved drastically and her powerful baseline game saw her go a break up in the opening game in the second set before holding her service games to level the match.

The Belarusian then seized the initiative early in the third set, as Wang continued to make unforced errors, and she went a break up in the third game to open up a lead.

Wang broke back straight away but Sabalenka responded with a vicious forehand on the Chinese's second serve at 30-40 to restore her break advantage before winning the next three games.

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You can stream the 2022 Australian Open live and on demand on discovery+. A subscription for discovery+ is now £29.99 for the first year for UK users, down from £59.99.

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