Australian Open: Kanepi stuns defending champion Kenin

Melbourne - Former world number 15 Kanepi has made a habit of producing surprise results at Grand Slam events

Kaia Kanepi confessed that she was a bundle of nerves on Thursday as the Estonian veteran overcame defending Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in straight sets to notch up the biggest upset of the women’s draw so far.

It looked like a mismatch on paper, with world number 65 Kanepi, who is yet to reach the second week at the Australian Open, taking on fourth-ranked Kenin on Margaret Court Arena.

But Kanepi turned the tables on Kenin with a combination of power and depth in her groundstrokes, hitting 22 winners to just 17 unforced errors in the match.

While Kenin admitted she crumbled under the pressure of defending her title, her opponent was equally nervy on the other side of the net.

“I couldn't actually know what she feels because I was nervous too,” said Kanepi, who won 6-3 6-2. “I had to calm myself down and then I had no time to look how the opponent is feeling or doing.”

Former world number 15 Kanepi has made a habit of producing surprise results at Grand Slam events. This win represents her eighth victory over a top-10 ranked opponent at major tournaments.

“I don’t really like comparing anymore, I have learned that playing so many years tennis,” said Kanepi, when asked how this win rated among her other big victories.

“I’ll take one match and one tournament at a time and it all depends how I feel, and how the opponent plays and so on.”

Kanepi has won six of her seven matches this season, having reached her first WTA final since 2013 just last week at the Gippsland Trophy warm-up tournament at Melbourne Park.

Despite reaching six Grand Slam quarterfinals in her career, Kanepi is yet to make the final eight at Melbourne Park — but that statistic is not on her mind.

“I don’t think about that any more,” she said. “I just think that I enjoy what I do and I feel good, and that’s it.”