"I felt in trouble in the second set when I was 2-0 up," Muguruza said. "I started to feel my calves were cramping." Muguruza had won a tight first set and appeared heading for a straight sets win over Krunic when she opened up a 5-2 lead in the second. However, she began to struggle in the 30 Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) heat and oppressive humidity as Krunic fought back to win the second set on a tiebreak.Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza has been forced to withdraw from the Brisbane International.
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) January 2, 2018
She collapsed following a serve and had to be helped from the court.https://t.co/Ib4qjnbm3D pic.twitter.com/KdX433yw7h
Muguruza received treatment from the physio on court before the start of the decider and broke Krunic only to collapse while serving to consolidate the service break. "I continued to think that with the match they (cramps) might go away, and then they were increasing, increasing. And then I had a lot of my body cramping," Muguruza said. The loss ends any hope Muguruza had of leapfrogging Simona Halep and becoming world number one before the seedings are decided for the Australian Open, which begins on January 15."I start to feel my calves were cramping. And I continued to think they might go away, and then they were increasing, increasing"
— #BrisbaneTennis (@BrisbaneTennis) January 2, 2018
- Garbiñe Muguruza on her mid-match retirement #BrisbaneTENnis pic.twitter.com/tZkTTd2c70
Krunic will now play Anastasija Sevastova after the seventh-seeded Latvian crushed Sorana Cirstea of Romania 6-2, 6-1. Last year's runner-up Alize Cornet eased into the final eight with a straight-sets win over Croatia's Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. Cornet, who won her first-round match when fourth seed Caroline Garcia retired injured, was too consistent for Lucic-Baroni, winning 6-1, 7-5.Top seed Garbiñe Muguruza is forced to retire while leading 2-1 in the 3rd set. Aleksandra Krunic, who recovered from 2-5 down in the 2nd, advances.#BrisbaneTENnis pic.twitter.com/QS1w5N0uOp
— #BrisbaneTennis (@BrisbaneTennis) January 2, 2018
After top seed Rafael Nadal pulled out late last week, the men's draw was dealt another major blow when Andy Murray withdrew. Murray suffered a right hip injury in 2017 and has not played on the ATP tour since losing a tough five-setter to American Sam Querrey in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon. The 30-year-old Scot issued a statement Tuesday announcing his withdrawal from the tournament, and did not say whether he would be able to play the year's first Grand Slam. Murray said he would stay in Brisbane as he "works towards returning to the tennis circuit".Top seed Garbine Muguruza retires from Brisbane International with cramping https://t.co/lV6FAj2Kgg pic.twitter.com/onyabuDJ4p
— telegraph_sport (@telegraph_sport) January 2, 2018
"I'm very disappointed to be withdrawing from the Brisbane International," he added. "I came here with every intention of making a strong start to the year, but sadly my team and I don't feel that I'm where I need to be just yet to compete at the highest level." Earlier, 21-year-old South Korean Chung Hyeon stunned fifth seed Gilles Muller from Luxembourg 6-3, 7-6 (7/1), while US qualifier Michael Mmoh upset Argentine Federico Delbonis 6-3, 6-4. Britain's Kyle Edmund survived a barrage of 18 aces from 18-year-old Canadian Denis Shapovalov to win in three sets 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, and Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin downed seventh-seeded Bosnian Damir Dzumbhur 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 6-2.Andy Murray has unfortunately had to withdraw from the Brisbane International due to a right hip complaint pic.twitter.com/trjo0Vovym
— #BrisbaneTennis (@BrisbaneTennis) January 2, 2018
Andy Murray has published an emotional Instagram post after he was forced to pull out of another tournament with injury.
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) January 2, 2018
More: https://t.co/vF8gtfMuyn pic.twitter.com/P5kM8m6imZ