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.