Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi continued her come-back to reach her sixth career Grand Slam quarter final and her first Round of 8 in a Major tournament since 2013 after beating Daria Kasatkina 6-4 6-4 after a hard-fought match. The former world number 15 player stopped playing on the WTA circuit for almost two years as she has suffered from a foot injury and a Epstein-Barr virus.
She was ranked world number 418 at the start of the US Open and started from the qualifying round. She recovered from a set down to beat Louisa Chirico and top qualifying seed Hsieh Su Wei to qualify for the main draw. She recovered from a set down against 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone in a rain-delayed first round in the Main Draw.
Kanepi went on to beat Naomi Osaka to reach the Round of 16. She went on to qualify for the US Open for the first time since 2010. In the Round of 16 the Estonian player has reached a Grand Slam quarter final for the first time since 2013. In the main draw she beat Yanina Wickmayer in a re-match with Yanina Wickmayer in the second round and rallied from one break down at 2-4 in the final set to beat Naomi Osaka to reach the Round of 16.
“I feel great. It was really amazing to win the match. I remember I played with 2011 US Open Samantha Stosur on the Court 5 in 2014. It was the last time she reached the second week at the US Open. She had a match point. I remember the court. That’s my court.”, said Kanepi.
Kanepi beat Daria Kasatkina, who prevailed over this year’s Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets.
In the fourth round match Kanepi hit 34 winners to 43 unforced errors, while Kasatkina produced 11 winners to 22 unforced errors.
The US Open is just her fifth tounament but entered the tournament with a 17-2 record after winning ITF-level titles in Germany and Estonia.
She will move up to world number 170after the US Open.
“In June last year I did not care if I did not play tenni again. I needed a break from tennis and the longer the break the better. I ignored the pain. I kept playing tournaments, thinking it would go away, buti t got worse and I could not play at all”, said Kanepi.
During her break from competive tennis Kanepi drove around Estonia with her dog to see friends and learned to drive on ice in Finland, wher she was the only woman in a group of 33 men.
“It was great fun and very exciting. It’s amazing. They teach you how to drive on ice. I like to slide but I don’t know what the guys thought. They did not say anything”.
After enjoying an holiday in Hawaii, she took care of her feet and started training with 2008 discus throw Olympic champion Gerd Kanter, one of the most popular Estonian sportmen.
“I was his sparring partner. I was throwing a medicine ball, doing general fitness, although I didn’t get to throw the discus. I started training in January. I felt better and my heels weren’t hurting anymore, so I decided to try tennis again and it went on from there”.
Kanepi has become the lowest-ranked quarter finalist at the US Open since the computer rankings began in 1970.
“I just want to play tennis. I think every match in a Grand Slam is tough but ‘t’s fun to win”.
