Kaia Kanepi knocks out the defending champ at the Australian Open

One of the biggest storylines from day four of the 2021 Australian Open is the fact that Sofia Kenin of the United States was unable to defend her women’s singles title from 2020. In the second round, Kenin, the fourth seed, was beaten 6-3, 6-2 by Kaia Kanepi of Estonia.

Even though Kanepi is 35 years old and ranked 65th in the world, she has the potential to pull off a spectacular performance as she did on Thursday. She had a terrific serve as she had 10 aces, compared to Kenin’s zero, and won 80% of her first-serve points. But should Kanepi’s win be that much of a surprise? The answer is simply no. That is because Kanepi has been here before. She now has 13 wins over a top-10 player in her career.

Of those 13 victories over top-10 players, eight have come at majors. Kanepi has previously beaten sixth-ranked Anna Chakvetadze of Russia 6-4, 7-6 in the second round of the 2008 French Open; sixth-ranked Samantha Stosur of Australia 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of 2010 Wimbledon; fifth-ranked Jelena Jankovic of Serbia 6-2, 7-6 in the third round of the 2010 United States Open; ninth-ranked Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 6-1, 6-7, 6-3 in the third round of the 2012 French Open; seventh-ranked Angelique Kerber of Germany 3-6, 7-6, 6-3 in the second round of the 2013 Wimbledon; eighth-ranked Jankovic 6-3, 6-2 in the first round of the 2014 Wimbledon; and the first-ranked Simona Halep of Romania 6-2, 6-4 in the first round of the 2018 United States Open.

Kanepi has previously reached the quarterfinals at six majors–twice each at the French Open, Wimbledon, and the United States Open. Now she is only one win away from having her best-ever finish at the Australian Open. Kanepi’s third-round opponent in Melbourne will be 28th-ranked Donna Vekic of Croatia.

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