No. 1-seeded Halep stunned in 1st round
It’s the first time top woman falls in opening match
NEW YORK — Some players, such as top-ranked Simona Halep, freely acknowledge they don’t deal well with the hustle-and-bustle of the U.S.Open and all it entails.
Others, like 44th-ranked Kaia Kanepi, take to the Big Apple and its Grand Slam tournament.
Put those two types at oppositeends of a court at Flushing Meadowsand watch what can happen: Halep made a quickas-can-be exit Monday, overwhelmed by the power-based game of Kanepi, 6-2, 6-4, to become the first No. 1-seeded woman to lose her opening match at the U.S. Open in the half-centuryof the pro era.
Halep blamed openinground jitters, and that has been a recurring theme throughout her career. The reigning French Open champion now has lost her first match at 12 of 34 career major appearances, a stunningly high rate for such an accomplishedplayer.
“It’s always about the nerves,” said Halep, who was beaten in the first round in New York by five-time major champ Maria Sharapova in 2017. “Even when you are there in the top, you feel the samenerves. ... “
She also offered up an explanationtied to this site.
“Maybe the noise in the crowd. The city is busy. So everything together,” said Halep, who was coming off consecutive runs to the final at hard-court tune-up tournaments at Cincinnati and Montreal. “I’m a quiet person, so maybeI like smaller places.”
It was the first match at the rebuilt Louis Armstrong Stadium, which now has about 14,000 seats and a retractable roof, and what a way to get things started. That cover was not needed to protect from rain on Day 1 at the year’s final major — although some protectionfrom the bright sun and its 90-degree heat might havebeen in order.
“The courts suit my game, andI love being in New York. I like the city,” said Kanepi, who is from Estonia and is sharing a coach this week with another player, Andrea Petkovic. “I like the weather —humid and hot.”
Since professionals were admitted to Grand Slam tournaments in 1968, only five times before Monday did women seeded No. 1 lose their opening match at a major — and never at the U.S. Open. It happened twice to Martina Hingis and once to Steffi Graf at Wimbledon, once to Angelique Kerber at the French Open and once to Virginia Ruziciat the Australian Open.
Halep got off to a slow start at Roland Garros this year, too, dropping her opening set, also by a 6-2 score, but ended up pulling out the victory there and adding six more to liftthe trophy.
There would be no such turnaround for her against Kanepi, a big hitter who dictated the points to claim her second career win against a top-ranked player — but first top-20victory since 2015.
No. 17-seeded Serena Williams kicked off the night session with a 6-4, 6-0 victory against Magda Linnette of Poland.
In other early results, three men’s seeds were bounced, too: No. 8 Grigor Dimitrov lost to three-time major champion Stan Wawrinka in the first round for a second consecutive major, No. 16 Kyle Edmund was beaten by Paolo Lorenzi, and No. 19 Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain was sweptby Jason Kubler.