Last year’s Australian Open champion is out of the tournament. (Photo by WILLIAM WEST / AFP via Getty Images)
The Australian Open has its first major upheaval. But it did not seem like an upset at all.
The defending champion, Sofia Kenin, who is currently the no. 4 in the world, fell 6-3, 6-2 in live sets against Kaia Kanepi, Estonia, in the second round on Thursday.
Kanepi was dominant throughout, but Kenin simply had no answer for her assignment. The 35-year-old finished with 10 aces while winning 80% of the top-ranked points; she also had more winners (22-10) and fewer unforced errors (17-22).
It was the second consecutive game in which Kenin looked flat and had to rally in the first round against Maddison Inglis, who was 130 on the world rankings. Kenin had earlier admitted that he had been struggling with the mental side of the game lately, while also saying that he suffered a groin injury before the tournament cleared up; whatever the problem was, it was clear she was gone.
Kanepi, who has won four WTA tournaments in her career and is also known for upsetting Simona Halep at the 2018 US Open, is now advancing to the third round, where Donna Vekic, the no. 28, wag.
Ash Barty, the top-ranked, keeps countryman down
The trouble arose in the second set, but top-seeded Ash Barty continues.
WTA No. 1 defeated Australian Daria Gavrilova 6-1, 7-6 (9-7) to advance to the third round of the tournament, where she will face 29th-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Barty dominated the first set, breaking Gavrilova in all three return games and winning every second time’s return point. She faltered a bit from there and scored 26 unforced errors in the second set, but emerged victorious for the win.
Once it was all over, Barty’s priority was to push the crowd to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to interviewer Casey Dellacqua:
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