Kanepi falls in opening clay encounter of the season

MADRID, Spain– Kaia Kanepi has failed to make any impact at the Madrid Masters, exiting the tournament in the first round.

Appearing in her first clay tournament of the year, the Estonian world no. 19 met her match in world no. 27 Julia Goerges of Germany. After winning the first set in a tie breaker the game began to resemble a one-sided affair as Goerges went on to win the next two sets and subsequently the match 6(3)-7 6-1 6-4.

Kanepi’s serve was on in the opening set, hitting in 63% of her first serves compared to 47% by her opponent. Despite this stat, it was Goerges who was able to claim four aces and push Kanepi to four break points while Kanepi could only manage to push Goerges to break point twice and would not manage an ace for the entire match. Breaking each other once, it took a tie break before a winner could be found.

In the second set there was only one player in the match as Goerges really began to attack Kanepi’s serve, breaking it on three of the four occasions that break point came up, forcing the match to a deciding third set.

In the final set, Kanepi’s month without a competitive match began to take its toll as she visibly began to tire against her younger opponent. Despite breaking Goerges in the final set, the German cancelled it out by breaking back twice to end Kanepi’s time in Madrid.