MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — American Sofia Kenin’s bid to repeat as champion at the Australian Open ended Thursday when she lost in the second round to big-serving Kaia Kanepi 6-3, 6-2.
Kanepi hit 10 aces, including on match point, and had 22 winners to 10 for Kenin, who was erratic with her strokes and went 0 for 7 on break-point chances.
Kenin’s run to her first Grand Slam title a year ago helped her break into the top 10 for the first time, and she entered this year’s tournament ranked a career-high No. 4.
Lots of upsets were anticipated, however, in a tournament where routine have been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, and three of the top nine seeded women have already lost. Kenin joined No. 8 Bianca Andreescu and No. 9 Petra Kvitova on the sideline.
Kanepi, a 35-year-old Estonian, improved to 13-39 against top 10 players. She ended Aryna Sabalenka’s 15-match winning streak last week at a tuneup tournament.
“I served really well today,” Kanepi said. “I think this helped a lot. My game plan was to play aggressive, as I normally do.”
Serena Williams remains the last woman to defend a Grand Slam title — at Wimbledon in 2016.
No. 1-ranked Ash Barty avoided an upset, but she blew a big lead in the second set and survived a shaky tiebreaker to beat fellow Aussie Daria Gavrilova 6-1, 7-6 (7).
Barty is trying to become the first Australian to win the women’s title at Melbourne since Chris O’Neil in 1978.
“It’s a different challenge every single day,” Barty said. “It’s trying to be the best I can every single day, whatever that level is.”
Other winners included former No. 1 Karolina Pliskova and American Shelby Rogers.
Feliciano Lopez, at 39 the oldest player in the men’s draw, rallied past No. 31 Lorenzo Sonego 5-7, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4. Lopez is appearing at his 75th consecutive Grand Slam singles event, a men’s record.
Barty lost only 10 points in the opening round, and her match against Gavrilova was equally lopsided until the wobbly finish. She led 5-2 in the second set but was broken twice serving for the victory.
In the tiebreaker Barty lost several ugly points. Gavrilova, a wild card, failed to convert two set points and committed unforced errors to end the final three rallies.
The two friends then shared a hug at the net.
