Tennis Tennis US Open: Halep crashes out in first round Simona Halep was knocked out in the first round of the US Open for the second year in a row, losing to 33-year-old Estonian Kaia Kanepi. Peter Thompson 27 August, 2018 22:00 IST Simona Halep in action at the US Open. - AFP Peter Thompson 27 August, 2018 22:00 IST Kaia Kanepi pulled off a major upset on day one of the US Open with a straight-sets defeat of world number one Simona Halep.Halep was blown away by the 33-year-old Estonian in the first match at the new Louis Armstrong Stadium, losing 6-2, 6-4 on a warm Monday in New York.The composed 44-ranked Kanepi outplayed the top seed with a mixture of power and precision to send shock waves around Flushing Meadows.It was a second straight first-round exit at Flushing Meadows for French Open champion Halep, who dropped her opening match to Maria Sharapova last year. "I have always loved being in New York. I like the atmosphere. I like being here. I love the courts and the climate, and I think that the courts suit my game really well."@KanepiKaia Read More: https://t.co/3OhhZ8ITeo#USOpen pic.twitter.com/eH48lCbWIB— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 27, 2018 The unseeded Kanepi reached the quarter-finals of the US Open last year and will face Jil Teichmann in round two after breaking five times and hitting 26 winners in an aggressive performance to claim a huge scalp.Kanepi took to the court with a strapped left shoulder but generated fearsome power from the start, going after the Halep first serve and breaking with a perfectly executed lob for a 2-1 lead.The underdog went from strength to strength, unleashing rasping winners from both wings to consolidate the early break before going a double break up at 4-1 courtesy of a magnificent deep return.Halep was flustered and found herself a set down in only 28 minutes when the flawless Kanepi held to love with a forehand winner.A furious Halep marched off court for a new racket, which did not last long as she smashed it into the hard court to earn herself a code violation after Kanepi broke in the opening game of the second set.A struggling Halep looked short of ideas as she went 3-0 down, but Kanepi gifted her a first break with a double fault in the next game.The momentum was with a battling Halep when she got back on serve at 4-4 with a break to love, but unforced errors gave Kanepi the chance to serve out the match.Kanepi stepped forward to let fly with a powerful forehand to earn two match points and only needed the one.STATISTICAL BREAKDOWNKanepi beat Halep [1] 6-4 6-2WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORSKanepi –26/28Halep – 9/9ACES/DOUBLE FAULTSKanepi – 1/3Halep – 1/0BREAK POINTS WONKanepi – 5/7Halep – 2/2FIRST SERVE PERCENTAGEKanepi – 70Halep – 66PERCENTAGE OF POINTS WON ON FIRST/SECOND SERVEKanepi – 64/57Halep – 66/59TOTAL POINTSKanepi – 59Halep – 47 Subscribe to our daily newsletter Get your daily dose of Sportstar with handpicked stories delivered right to your inbox! SUBSCRIBE Please enter a valid email address. Dugout videos