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.
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 BREAKDOWN
Kanepi beat Halep [1] 6-4 6-2
WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Kanepi –26/28
Halep – 9/9
ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS
Kanepi – 1/3
Halep – 1/0
BREAK POINTS WON
Kanepi – 5/7
Halep – 2/2
FIRST SERVE PERCENTAGE
Kanepi – 70
Halep – 66
PERCENTAGE OF POINTS WON ON FIRST/SECOND SERVE
Kanepi – 64/57
Halep – 66/59
TOTAL POINTS
Kanepi – 59
Halep – 47
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