Kenin loses in second round at Australian Open

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 has 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.