Safarova overpowered by Tsurenko, loses in straight sets

Another top-10 woman falls at Flushing Meadows.

One day after the Nos. 7, 8, and 10 seeds all fell to their first-round opponent, No. 6 Lucie Safarova had her US Open end prematurely, losing to 37th-ranked Lesia Tsurenko in straight sets 6-4, 6-1.

One of the strongest servers on tour statistically, Safarova was simply outmatched by her opponent who she beat just four days earlier in the semifinals of the Connecticut Open.

Safarova made 33 unforced errors on the day, none more glaring than a wide-open overhead smash in the opening game of the second set that helped Tsurenko gain an early break. The Ukrainian won 55 percent of her receiving points which was more than enough to help her take the match in just 65 minutes.

Though Safarova is considered a clay court specialist, it is still a surprising loss for the French Open finalist who did win on hardcourt earlier this year in Doha and lost in the aforementioned Connecticut final to fellow Czech Republic native, Petra Kvitova.

With Safarova's exit being quickly followed by No. 14 Timea Bacsinszky on Tuesday, every semi-finalist not named Serena Williams is now eliminated in New York after Ana Ivanovic was knocked out Monday.

But nothing should be taken away from Tsurenko who is playing the best tennis of her career in the past two months. She won her first title at the Istanbul Cup in July and reached the quarters in Toronto before her semifinal run in New Haven after receiving entry in the main draw thanks to a Simona Halep withdrawal.

If Tsurenko's strong form continues, she could be in line to face Halep in the quarters. In the meantime, she awaits either Varvara Lepchenko or Kirsten Flipkens in Round 2.