Distraught Sofia Kenin claims she buckled under stress of being defending champion during 3-6, 2-6 shock second-round defeat to Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi; ousted in just 64 minutes
Sofia Kenin during her defeat to Kaia Kanepi (right) in Round 2 of the Australian Open yesterday. Pics/AFP
A crestfallen Sofia Kenin said she was suffocated by the pressure of defending her maiden Grand Slam title as the World No. 4 exited the Australian Open in tears on Thursday.
The American has struggled to handle expectations in Melbourne and was no match for Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi, who won 6-3, 6-2 in 64 minutes in the second round.
Kenin, 22, was just the third Australian Open defending champion not to reach the third round since 1970, and the earliest to crash out since Jennifer Capriati fell in the first round in 2003.
ADVERTISEMENT
Kaia Kanepi
Slew of upsets
She headlines a slew of upsets in the women’s draw, which has also lost eighth seed Bianca Andreescu and ninth seed Petra Kvitova in the first week. “I know I couldn’t really handle the pressure,” said a emotional and red-eyed Kenin, who wiped away tears during her press conference.
“I mean, obviously I haven’t experienced that. I obviously felt like I’m not there 100 per cent physically, mentally, my game. Everything just feels real off. It’s not good.” Kenin, who had 22 unforced errors, offered little resistance against Kanepi. “I did put pressure on myself there [Roland Garros], but not as much as here,” she said. “I feel like everyone was always asking me, ‘Do you see yourself getting there and winning again?’ The Australia trip, I feel like that was something that I had my eye on. I knew I was going to have pressure. I knew I was going to have emotions, nerves, everything all together. I felt really nervous. I haven’t felt my game for I don’t know how long. It’s obviously tough. The Aussie swing definitely got me.”
Meanwhile, Ashleigh Barty attributed her patchy performance over compatriot Daria Gavrilova to rust, as the World No. 1 played down fears she was carrying an injury at the Australian Open.
Barty, 24, cast friendship aside to down her Fed Cup teammate 6-1, 7-6 in one hour and 32 minutes, but Barty seemingly lost focus on the brink of victory in the all-Australian affair.
Barty rallies to victory
Barty slumped at 2-5 in the second set, dropping serve twice, and needed to save two set points in the tiebreaker before finally advancing to the third round. The 2019 French Open champion was unfazed by the stutter, having only resumed playing at the warm-up Yarra Valley Classic—which she won. “I haven’t played a lot of tennis over the last 12 months,” Barty said.
“Obviously going to have ebbs and flows not only in concentration but level of play as well. It’s important to be able to bring that back as often as possible. For a couple games, I wasn’t able to do that.”
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
