Big-hitting Kaia Kanepi--who has yet to regain her pre-injury top 20 ranking, and who has had trouble closing big matches on her best days--held her nerve easily today in the first round of Wimbledon. Kanepi, who had to qualify to get into the main draw, upset 6th seed Sam Stosur 6-4, 6-4 with very little fuss. Kanepi maintained an 87 first serve win percentage, and competently went about breaking Stosur's serve three of the nine times she saw a break point.
Stosur saved three match points on her own serve and held for 5-3 in the second set, but the thrill was momentary; Kanepi held serve and--after an hour and 22 minutes--pulled off a considerable upset. Stosur has said all along that grass is a difficult surface for her, yet there were many who thought she would make a deep run at Wimbledon. Stosur's game sometimes lacks aggression when it is needed, and it is especially needed on grass.
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