Aussie Open: Erakovic beaten in straight sets

Marina Erakovic. Photo / Brett Phibbs.

Marina Erakovic is out of the Australian Open, beaten 7-5 6-0 by Spanish world No24 Garbine Muguruza.

After a tightly contested first set, Erakovic was completely overwhelmed in the second.

She struggled on serve (only 51 per cent of first serves landed) for most of the match and made a mountain of unforced errors in the latter stages. Muguruza - who beat Serena Williams last year - punished the New Zealander's second serve all day and gradually over powered Erakovic from the back of the court.

In front of a vocal crowd on court seven, Erakovic started well against the 21st seed.
She secured an early break for a 4-1 lead in the first set, as the Spaniard struggled to find her range in the windy conditions.

But that was as good as it got for Erakovic, who couldn't maintain her level from then on.

Muguruza lifted her game to break Erakovic's serve twice and then serve out the first set.

The second set was a procession. The world No74 Kiwi was broken in the opening game and couldn't find a way back, as her game become more and more erratic.

Michael Venus and Artem Sitak are the remaining New Zealanders in the tournament and both will be in doubles action later in the week.