Simona Halep created a piece of unwanted history on Monday when she became the first female world No 1 in the Open era to lose in the first round of the US Open after a shock defeat to Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi.
Halep, the reigning French Open champion, entered the final grand slam of the season in fine form having won the Rogers Cup in Montreal and reached the Cincinnati Open final.
But playing in the first match on the newly renovated Louis Armstrong Stadium court, the 26-year-old Romanian failed to sustain any kind of service rhythm and her usually stout defence proved no match for Kanepi’s bruising groundstrokes and deft drop shots. It is the second successive year Halep has fallen at the first hurdle in New York, having lost to Maria Sharapova in 2017.
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“I have always loved being in New York,” said Kanepi, who has twice reached the quarter-finals of the US Open, including last year after she came through qualifying.
“I like the atmosphere. I like being here. I love the courts and the climate, and I think that the courts suit my game really well.”
Kanepi, 33, earned the first break when she launched a back-hand lob over Halep’s head to jump out to a 2-1 lead.
The world No 44 broke again in the fifth game and never looked back.
Halep won just 59 per cent of her first-serve points compared to 80 per cent for Kanepi in the set. Frustration for Halep boiled over in the second game of the second set when she smashed her racket on the court, earning a racket abuse warning from the chair umpire.
Halep recovered and it appeared a comeback was on when she broke Kanepi to love to level the second set at 4-4, but Kanepi completed the upset when Halep sent a service return long on match point.
“Simona is No 1 in the world. She plays constantly well,” Kanepi said. “But I know I can play well too. That’s what I was thinking.”
Halep was magnanimous in defeat and admitted she couldn’t find an answer to Kanepi’s powerful hitting.
“I expected her to play like that, without fear, and hitting the ball really strong,” Halep said. “I cannot say much about this match, just that I didn’t really feel the ball. But also she played really strong and pushed me back. It was tough, but it’s OK.”
Ukrainian seventh seed Elina Svitolina managed to avoid becoming another high-profile casualty after coming through a topsy-turvy first round match.
Svitolina, the reigning and two-time Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship winner, recovered from a second-set slump to defeat American Sachia Vickery 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 on Grandstand.
Belgian 15th seed Elise Mertens advanced after an epic tussle with Japan’s Kurumi Nara, defeating the world No 99 6-2, 6-7, 7-5 in two hours and 45 minutes.
In the men’s event, local hope Jack Sock shrugged off his recent poor form with a comprehensive 6-0, 7-6, 6-2 victory over Argentine Guido Andreozzi.
American Sock, the world No 18, entered the US Open on a seven-match losing streak, but showed no signs of his recent struggles to book his place in the second round.
Three-time grand slam winner Stan Wawrinka made light work of No 8 seed Grigor Dimitrov with an impressive 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 victory in the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Canadian 25th seed Milos Raonic needed four sets to get past Argentine qualifier Carlos Berloq as the former Wimbledon finalist advanced 7-6, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.
British 16th seed Kyle Edmund became the first big casualty in the men’s first round when he was defeated 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-1 by the Italian Paolo Lorenzi.
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
The specs
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Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
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Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The biog
Age: 59
From: Giza Governorate, Egypt
Family: A daughter, two sons and wife
Favourite tree: Ghaf
Runner up favourite tree: Frankincense
Favourite place on Sir Bani Yas Island: “I love all of Sir Bani Yas. Every spot of Sir Bani Yas, I love it.”
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
