Katie Boulter eliminated from US Open following tough loss to Karolina Muchova

With the grounds of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre at a standstill amid a heavy downpour and all attention on the two stadium courts fitted with retractable roofs, there was nowhere for Katie Boulter to hide as her grand slam season ended in a painful 6-1, 6-0 defeat by the seventh seed, Karolina Muchova, in the second round of the US Open.

Boulter and Muchova had originally been scheduled to play on Court 17 after the men’s first round match between Rafael Jodar and Yunchaokete Bu, but rain suspended play and they were moved to Louis Armstrong Stadium. Boulter was outclassed by Muchova, who relied on her usual smooth shotmaking and all-court game.

Boulter said afterwards that she struggled to adjust to the unexpected setting, particularly the ambient noise from the chatty crowd, a feature the US Open has become known for. "She was better than me today for sure," she said. "I think I'm probably struggling to be kind to myself, but I'm going to be right now. I struggled with the conditions. I struggled with the roof, I struggled with the noise. I kind of let these little things distract me a little bit. But ultimately, at the end of the day, it was a bad day at the office."

It has been a life-changing summer for Boulter, who married men's player Alex de Minaur in July. After a promising start to the season, winning her fourth WTA title in Ostrava and returning to the top 60 following her victory over world No 2 Elena Rybakina at Queen's, her progress has stalled. Until her first round win in Cincinnati last month, she had lost five consecutive matches, including a straight-sets defeat in the first round of Wimbledon.

This was the first time Boulter had played on a stadium court in New York, and she had only trained on Louis Armstrong Stadium once. She said the atmosphere surprised her: "I think a lot of the times in matches when you warm up, it's quite noisy. I actually expected it to kind of die down a little bit, but it didn't. I think from the first point of the match I was expecting the crowd to go silent, which is normally how it works. But it never changed. So I think in my mind I was like, 'Okay, so you need to adjust here. You need to be ready. You need to work it out as we go along.' And I think that was my plan. I always want to have an atmosphere. I always want to have noise. I love that. I normally relish that feeling. So for me today it's a very different feeling to feel slightly distracted from that. It was a little abnormal for me."

Meanwhile, British qualifier Francesca Jones advanced to the second round of the US Open for the first time by defeating former top 20 player Magda Linette 6-4, 1-6, 6-3. The match required considerable concentration after rain halted play on Tuesday night, forcing them off court again right after their warmup on Wednesday. Jones recovered after a strong start from Linette in the second set. "It was incredible how she was playing until about 4-0 and then started to equal out. But, you know, in that situation, hats off if they can maintain that. I just tried to show my northern grit, stick in there and do what I can," she said.

Jones spent much of this season sidelined with injuries and a concussion after breaking into the top 100 last year. She found form in July, winning back-to-back WTA 125 titles on clay. After qualifying through three rounds, her win stands as one of the most significant of her career.

Elsewhere, Britain's Jan Choinski lost 6-3, 6-1, 7-6(5) to Botic van de Zandschulp, and lucky loser Jacob Fearnley fell 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to 27th seed Tomas Etcheverry. The day's major upset came on Court 17, where 19-year-old Jodar lost 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 to Bu.