GARBINE Muguruza has cut and run from her ill fated sequences of visits to Brisbane, choosing Perth’s Hopman Cup as her launch pad for next summer’s Australian Open.

Muguruza, the 2017 Wimbledon champion, retired during her second round match in Brisbane earlier this year and also pulled out of the tournament with an injury without playing a match in 2016.

A semi-finalist in 2017, Muguruza was top seed last summer when she failed to survive her first match, saying leg cramps prevented her from finishing a third set against Serbian Aleksandra Krunic.

Brisbane International organisers have so far announced the entry of Rafael Nadal only for the December 31-January 6 tournament.

The Hopman Cup, played in the same week as the Brisbane event, can boast the past two Wimbledon women’s champions, ninth-ranked Muguruza and Angelique Kerber, and also have the entry of male world No.4 Alexander Zverev.

Absent minded Nick Kyrgios forgot his tennis shoes before winning through to the second round of the ATP Cincinnati Masters with a tense 6-7 (7-2) 7-5 7-6 (9-7) win over American qualifier Denis Kudla.

Kyrgios apologised for Kudla for making him wait to start the warm-ups while a tournament staffer ran off court to fetch tennis shoes when the Australian found he had only the basketball shoes he walked in on.

Kyrgios, who has a second-round match against Croatian Borna Coric, said he is “just managing’’ hip soreness that he has had for several months.

“We have been definitely thinking about the options with my hip,’’ he said.

“There is only so much you can do before you have to, I guess, get surgery or something like that. This year has been tough.’’

The US Open starts on Monday week.

Ash Barty, seeded 16th, saw off Czech wildcard Marketa Vondrousova to reach a second-round clash with the experienced Estonian Kaia Kanepi.

She joins fellow Australian Ajla Tomljanovic in the second round.

Serena Williams lost a high quality second-round match 6-3 2-6 6-3 to dual Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova.

Kvitova is ranked sixth in the world and it is the first time since 2011 that Williams, ranked No.27, has lost three matches in succession to top-10 opponents.

After a first-round bye, men’s top seed Roger Federer advanced to the third round with a 6-4 6-4 win over German Peter Gojowczyk.