Boulter loses just one game in swift US Open second-round exit

British number one Katie Boulter suffered a lopsided defeat in the US Open second round, losing 6-1 6-0 to Czech seventh seed Karolina Muchova in a match that lasted only 58 minutes.

The match was moved from an outer court to the 14,000-capacity Louis Armstrong Stadium after heavy rain hit New York. Boulter admitted afterwards it had been a "bad day at the office - times two," saying she struggled with the conditions, the roof and the noise, and let herself become distracted.

Her serve was a major weak point, with eight double faults and no aces, and she won only 33% of points on her first serve. Boulter failed to save any of the seven break points she faced, and her 22 unforced errors dwarfed her four winners. Muchova, by contrast, played with control, hitting 14 winners against just nine unforced errors.

Former world number five Daniela Hantuchova told BBC Radio 5 Live that Boulter's serve needed urgent attention from her team, calling it the clearest issue in the match.

Off the court, Boulter has had a happy summer, marrying Australian world number seven Alex de Minaur in July. However, her season on court has been difficult - the world number 62 has managed just two wins across the four Grand Slam tournaments this year, and only two victories in six matches since her first-round exit at Wimbledon.

Fellow Briton Jacob Fearnley also fell short of the third round, losing in four sets to Argentina's Tomas Martin Etcheverry, while Jan Choinski was beaten by the Netherlands' Botic van de Zandschulp.

There was better news for Francesca Jones, who completed her rain-delayed first-round win over Poland's Magda Linette on Wednesday, coming through in three sets to reach the second round.