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Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova was knocked out of the U.S. Open in the second round on Wednesday, defeated by Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-4, 7-5.
The No. 8-seeded Krejcikova won her second Grand Slam singles title this summer, but then she didn't play any matches after the Paris Olympics. She acknowledged last week not knowing where her level of play was.
Turns out, it wasn't good enough.
Ruse got much more work on the U.S. Open's hard courts while playing her way into the main draw through the qualifying tournament and was better than Krejcikova on the points that mattered most, fighting back from a 5-3 deficit in the second set to win the final four games.
“Barbora, she's such a good player, she's won so many matches in the last two years and it’s just a dream for me,” said Ruse, a 26-year-old from Romania.
She advanced to the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time and will play No. 26 seed Paula Badosa, who eliminated American Taylor Townsend 6-3, 7-5.
Badosa continued her resurgence in a strong summer by reaching the third round of the U.S. Open for the first time.
“I know it’s just a third round, but I was really looking forward to doing this in New York,” said Badosa, a Spaniard who was born in New York.
Another women's third-round match will see No. 14 seed Madison Keys against No. 33 Elise Mertens. Keys rolled past Maya Joint 6-4, 6-0, while Mertens knocked out Ajla Tomljanovic 6-3, 6-2.
Defending champions Coco Gauff and Novak Djokovic were on the schedule Wednesday night.
