British number one Katie Boulter endured a “bad day at the office” as she won just one game in a 58-minute demolition by Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Muchova in the US Open second round.
The match, originally scheduled to be played on one of the outer courts, was moved to the 14,000-capacity Louis Armstrong Stadium after heavy rain in New York.
But fans who had counted themselves lucky to have gained a third match on their day session ticket may have been left feeling short-changed, as Boulter fell to a swift 6-1 6-0 defeat by the Czech seventh seed.
“Ultimately, it was a bad day at the office – times two,” said Boulter.
“I struggled with the conditions. I struggled with the roof, the noise, I let things distract me.
“I let it get to me. I’m not usually aware of everything going on. It made me feel a little bit uncomfortable. I have to deal with it better.”
Fellow Britons Jacob Fearnley and Toby Samuel failed to reach the men’s third round on Wednesday, both losing to seeded players in Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic.
But Francesca Jones had better fortune as she returned to win her first-round match against Poland’s Magda Linette after it was interrupted by rain on Tuesday.
Boulter’s serve let her down as she hit eight double faults and no aces, while she won just 33% of points behind her first serve.
Unable to fend off any of the seven break points she faced, the 30-year-old was not helped by an unforced error count of 22 compared to just four winners.
In comparison, two-time US Open semi-finalist Muchova landed 14 winners and just nine unforced errors as she impressed with smart drop shots and piercing groundstrokes.
“I would be really humbled [if I was Boulter], I would sit down with my team and say ‘OK, we need to change something big time’,” former world number five Daniela Hantuchova told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“First of all, it was very obvious today that it was the serve. I feel like it needs to be cleared up because she was losing the rhythm and not using her legs. That’s the number one thing.
“If I am Boulter, I would be on the practice court tomorrow. If she still wants to invest everything into her tennis then she needs to be on the court.”
Boulter has had plenty to celebrate in her personal life this summer after marrying Australia’s Alex de Minaur, the world number seven, in July.
However, it has been a disappointing tennis season for the world number 62, with just two wins across the four Grand Slam tournaments.
Since suffering a first-round exit at Wimbledon, Boulter has won just two of the six matches she has played.