Halep suffers shock defeat in 1st round

NEW YORK: World No. 1 Simona Halep was upset by Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 6-2, 6-4 to depart the US Open in the first round for the second consecutive year.

Last year Halep fell to Maria Sharapova in the first round on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

It’s the first time the No. 1 women’s seed has lost an opening match at the US Open in the Open era.

The history books will forever show that the first match played on the new 14,000-plus seat Louis Armstrong Stadium saw the top seed dismantled by a 44th-ranked opponent.

Halep’s best career finish at the US Open to date was reaching the semi-finals in 2015, losing to eventual champion Flavia Pennetta of Italy.

Despite the early exit, Halep will retain her top-ranking status following the completion of the final Grand Slam tournament of the season.

Halep finally pulled off a Grand Slam victory at this year’s French Open, her first major win in four appearances in finals. Her other Grand Slam final showings came at the French Open in 2014 and ’17, and the 2018 Australian Open.

Heading into the US Open, Halep was in winning form. She reached back-to-back finals, winning the Montreal title with a defeat of reigning US Open champion Sloane Stephens, and

losing in Cincinnati to Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands.

Behind 6-2, 3-0 to Kanepi, Halep mounted a comeback to 4-4 in the second set, but proceeded to lose the last two games of the 76-minute match.

Halep, who had only nine unforced errors in the encounter to 28 for Kanepi, struggled to win points on her second serve, only posting a 30% margin on that shot, which helped

lead to her downfall.

Kanepi, a two-time quarterfinalist at the US Open, including at last year’s tournament, lost the only other time she faced Halep, in the second round.

Meanwhile, Spain’s Rafael Nadal maintained the no. 1 spot in the men’s Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world singles rankings released on Monday with 10,040 points, ahead of Switzerland’s Roger Federer.

Nadal is set to take on his compatriot David Ferrer on Tuesday at the first round of the US Open, reports Efe news. Top-10 players are holding on to their positions as Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro is still occupying the third position, followed by Alexander Zverev of Germany. Further down the rankings, Russian Daniil Medvedev rocketed 21 places to the 36th, following his victory at the Winston-salem Open against Steve Johnson of the United States 6-4, 6-4.