Garbiñe Muguruza has ruled Paris, contested the final at Wimbledon and reached the second week in Melbourne.

New York City is a major pothole in the third-seeded Spaniard's Grand Slam road to success.

US Open: Women's Draw Preview

Muguruza has posted precisely one win in three US Open appearances.

While she arrives in New York with a shot to surpass Serena Williams for the world No. 1 ranking, the 22-year-old Spaniard admits Manhattan's manic pace makes the US Open her toughest major.

"I feel this tournament is the most tricky tournament because there is obviously a lot of things," Muguruza said. "There is always traffic. There is always noise, people. I don't know. Everything takes a lot of energy.

"I feel here is harder because, I don't know for whatever reason, is more complicated. Just because it's more. I don't know, but city. Huge city. Huge everything."

Since sweeping Serena to capture her first Grand Slam title on the red clay of Roland Garros, Muguruza has been up and down posting a 6-4 record. She looked lethargic in a second-round Wimbledon exit to Jana Cepelova and suffered a 6-1, 6-1 thrashing to Monica Puig in the Rio Olympic Games.

Muguruza opens against Belgian qualifier Elise Mertens, who is making her US Open debut. Muguruza could meet Puig in a potential US Open third-round clash.

A run to the Cincinnati semifinals last week where she fell to eventual-champion Karolina Pliskova, should give Muguruza some confidence. She said her early Wimbledon exit taught her a valuable lesson: Energy management.

"When I went to play that (Wimbledon) match, I felt exhausted," Muguruza said. "Like I woke up that day like I have to play a match today. I feel tired. I think recovery and more concentrate on my energy (is important).

"Those matches are important ones, you know. Maybe I trained too much before or I didn't rest enough. I was a little bit tired."

Photo credit: Christopher Levy