NEW YORK – An annoying Garbine Muguruza let Barbora Krejcikova know that she believed the eighth-ranked Czech was “unprofessional” after spending medical time just as the ninth-placed Spaniard had momentum in the second set of the his fourth-round match at the American Open.
Krejcikova defeated Muguruza 6-3, 7-6 (4) in a match that didn’t end until 1 a.m. Monday afternoon. In the end there was a drama when Krejcikova called for time out (saying she wanted to see the coach for a diaphragm problem) after Muguruza had overcome a 4-0 deficit in the second set to advance 6-5 .
When the game resumed after the break, Krejcikova won seven points in a row. He also angered Muguruza by taking his time between the points of the stretch, walking slowly towards his towel.
When the two went to shake hands briefly on the net, a clearly upset Muguruza told the reigning French Open champion that she thought their behavior was “so unprofessional”.
When the match was over, Krejcikova remained in her side chair, crouched down, until she finally left the court with help. She did not interview the postmatch winner on the court.
“Listen, I don’t want to talk about this,” Muguruza said when first asked about what happened at the end of the second set. “I’ll let you judge what you think about it.”
A reporter said she looked upset, the two-time senior champion replied: “Well, I think between players you know a little bit how to behave at certain times and, yes, in the end I wasn’t very happy with the match. That’s almost everything “.
Krejcikova did not appear at a postmatch press conference. In comments distributed by the American Tennis Association, Krejcikova said, “In the end, I was very struggling and I feel really bad right now. I’m not sure what happened, but I couldn’t breathe. I started to feel “I was dizzy, and everyone was shaking. It had never happened to me before.”
Krejcikova is heading to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open in her singles debut at the Hard Slam Grand Slam tournament. He then plays Aryna Sabalenka, the second-placed Belarusian.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.