Nerves trip Halep in 1st-round upset
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.
Put those two types at opposite ends of a court and 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-century of the professional era.
Halep blamed openinground jitters, and that has been a recurring theme throughout her career. The reigning French Open champion has now lost her first match at 12 of 34 career major appearances, a stunningly high rate for such an accomplished player.
“It’s always about the nerves,” Halep said.. “Even when you are there in the top, you feel the same nerves. You are human.”
She also offered up an explanation tied to this site.
“Maybe the noise in the crowd. The city is busy,” said Halep, who was coming off consecutive runs to the final at hard-court tuneup tournaments at Cincinnati and Montreal. “I’m a quiet person, so maybe I like the smaller places.”
Halep’s departure means she can’t stand in the way of Serena Williams, who could have faced Halep in the fourth round. Williams, the 23-time major champion who missed last year’s U.S. Open because she gave birth on Sept. 1, returned with a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Magda Linette.
Williams moved a step closer to a possible thirdround matchup against her older sister, two-time winner Venus, who defeated 2004 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.
Others making the second round included defending champion and No. 3 seed Sloane Stephens and two-time major champ Garbine Muguruza.
Four seeded men lost in the afternoon, including No. 8 Grigor Dimitrov against three-time major champion Stan Wawrinka.