Simona Halep gets bounced in a New York minute

Aug. 27, 2018 10:40 PM PT

Reporting from new york — Many athletes and performers are energized by the frenetic pace and constant clamor of New York. If they can make it here, as the song goes, they can make it anywhere. Simona Halep, the world’s top-ranked female tennis player, is not one of those people.

For the second straight year Halep couldn’t get out of the first round of the U.S. Open, becoming the first No. 1-seeded player in the 50 years of the Open Era to exit in the first round of this exhausting but exhilarating event. Halep was thoroughly outplayed by an aggressive Kaia Kanepi on Monday in the first match at the renovated Louis Armstrong Stadium, enabling No. 44-ranked Kanepi to earn a well-deserved 6-2, 6-4 victory on a hot, sticky day. For perspective on how unlikely this was, consider that Kanepi lost in the first round of the French Open and Halep won the tournament for her first Grand Slam title.

Halep profusely praised Kanepi’s fearlessness and strategy and said she never felt comfortable in the stadium or in her own skin. “I never play my best tennis here,” said Halep, who was ranked No. 2 last year when she lost to Maria Sharapova. “Maybe the noise in the crowd. The city is busy. I’m a quiet person, so maybe I like the smaller places.”

Kanepi, a 33-year-old Estonian who hasn’t done much since reaching the U.S. Open quarterfinals last year, thrived on the tumult. She powered through the first set and cruised to a 3-0 lead in the second set before she tired and Halep made enough inroads to pull even at 4-4. That’s when Kanepi reminded herself to be more assertive. Halep helped her by missing three easy shots at 40-15.

“I love playing in New York,” Kanepi said. “I think the courts suit my game and I love being in New York. I like the atmosphere in tournaments and in the city, also.”

She expected fans to like her back and was startled when they loudly supported her Romanian opponent’s comeback effort. “Normally they cheer for the underdog. Now, they cheer for her,” Kanepi said, smiling. “It was a bit annoying for some time but I got over it.”

The other surprises Monday were mild. Unseeded Paolo Lorenzi of Italy had 21 aces in defeating No. 16 Kyle Edmund of Great Britain 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-1, and wild-card Jason Kubler of Australia eliminated No. 19 Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 6-3, 6-3, 6-4. Among the women, Qiang Wang of China defeated No. 31 Magdelena Rybarikova of Slovakia 6-2, 6-2, and Rebecca Peterson of Sweden ousted No. 27 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 1-6, 6-4, 6-3.

The main drama among the top men involved No. 5 Kevin Anderson of South Africa — the runner-up at last year’s U.S. Open and at Wimbledon this year — being pressed to pull out a 7-6(4), 5-7, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 decision over American Ryan Harrison. No. 1-seeded and defending champion Rafael Nadal was ahead 6-3, 3-4 when fellow Spaniard David Ferrer retired because of a calf injury. It was the Grand Slam finale for Ferrer, who never won a major title but has nearly $31 million in career earnings.

“I’m very sad about what happened to him in his last match probably on a Grand Slam. But that’s life,” Nadal said of his Davis Cup teammate.

No. 3 Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, a semifinalist last year, swept American qualifier Donald Young 6-0, 6-3, 6-4.

“I have high expectation playing this tournament. But I have to be calm and doing my way, just thinking about next round, and that’s it,” del Potro said.

There was no suspense to six-time U.S. Open champion Serena Williams’ 6-4, 6-0 rout of Magda Linette of Poland. Williams didn’t play in the U.S. Open last year because she was awaiting the birth of daughter Alexis Olympia last Sept 1. “The first match of a Grand Slam is always good to get through,” she said.

Like Halep, she’s not a big fan of New York because the logistics are more complicated than in other cities. She’s rarely apart from her baby but Olympia can’t tolerate long car trips. “I have to take an extra two hours in transit that I’m not going to see her,” Williams said.

Her sister Venus outlasted wild-card Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 in a matchup of former U.S. Open winners. Venus, seeded 16th, is 20-0 in U.S. Open first-round matches. The sisters will meet if each wins her second-round match. That’s not guaranteed.

“The higher you’re ranked, the more that people come for you,” Venus said. “It’s just a chance for them to just hit it out.”

Halep learned that. She can now find a quieter, more hospitable destination. The noise and the show will go on for the other contenders.

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