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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

AUSTRALIAN OPEN CHAMPION CRASHES OUT IN SECOND ROUND

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Reigning champion Sofia Kenin crashed out of the Australian Open in the second round on Thursday (Feb 11), slumping to a 6-3, 6-2 defeat at the hands of world No. 65 Kaia Kanepi at Margaret Court Arena.

Kenin, who followed her Grand Slam breakthrough at Melbourne Park last year with a run to the final at the French Open, sprayed 22 unforced errors in the 64-minute contest against the experienced Estonian.

“I served really well and my game plan was to play aggressive,” said Kanepi, who had 10 aces.

Kenin’s return to the scene of her breakthrough Grand Slam title, where she beat Garbine Muguruza in the final, has proved tough after she lost to the Spaniard at last week’s Yarra Valley Classic.

She later declared she was troubled by a left groin injury, which she said might have been attributed to the mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine on arrival in Australia.

Moscow-born Kenin has cut an emotional figure and also admitted to playing in tears throughout her first-round clash with Australian Maddison Inglis.

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A strong-serving Kanepi proved a bad match-up for Kenin, who had 22 unforced errors and offered little resistance as her title defence ended with a whimper.

Kanepi, however, has been in strong form, finishing runner-up in the warm-up Gippsland Trophy followed by a straight-sets victory over Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova in the Open’s first round.

The 35-year-old plays 28th seed Donna Vekic of Croatia next.

-Reuters/AFP

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Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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