Kaia Kanepi beats world number one Simona Halep in US Open first round
Kaia Kanepi, currently world number 44, beat world number one Simona Halep 6-2 6-4 in the first round of the US Open, making her the first top-seeded player ever to lose at this stage of the tournament.
Halep fought back from a double break down to 4-4 in the second set after her serve was broken five times in the first match, but Kanepi managed to break again before Halep sent a forehand long on match point.
Though this is the first time a number one gets knocked out in the first round, it wasn't for Halep, as she lost her opening match at Flushing Meadows in 2017 as well to Maria Sharapova.
Halep meanwhile joined those players who have complained about the setting at Flushing Meadows in the past, saying that the noise in the crowd and the busy city are a distraction.
Before Kanepi's victory yesterday, no women's tennis top number ever lost in the opening round of the US Open since the beginning of the professional era in 1968.
Kaia Kanepi made the quarter-finals at the US Open last year, but struggled with injuries and related problems for a long time. Very different from Halep, Kanepi also says she enjoys being in New York.
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Editor: Dario Cavegn