Kaia Kanepi

Kaia Kanepi

Kanepi at the 2013 French Open
Full name	Kaia Kanepi
Country (sports)	Estonia
Born	(1985-06-10) 10 June 1985 Haapsalu, Estonia[1]
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Turned pro	2000
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$ 4,429,372
Singles
Career record	408–253
Career titles	4 WTA, 10 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 15 (20 August 2012)
Current ranking	No. 305 (17 October 2016)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	3R (2009)
French Open	QF (2008, 2012)
Wimbledon	QF (2010, 2013)
US Open	QF (2010)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games	3R (2008)
Doubles
Career record	44–60
Career titles	0 WTA, 2 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 106 (6 June 2011)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	2R (2011, 2012, 2014)
French Open	3R (2012, 2014)
Wimbledon	3R (2008, 2009)
US Open	1R (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013)
Other doubles tournaments
Olympic Games	1R (2004, 2008)
Team competitions
Fed Cup	38–13
Last updated on: 8 February 2016.

Kaia Kanepi (pronunciation: KY-ah KAH-nep-i; IPA: [ˈkɑiɑ ˈkɑnepi]; born 10 June 1985) is an Estonian tennis player. She achieved her career-high ranking of World No. 15 in August 2012 and holds many firsts for Estonia. Since beginning at the pro circuit in 2000 Kanepi has won 4 WTA titles in singles.

Kanepi won her first WTA Tour title in Palermo in 2010, becoming the first Estonian female player to win a WTA title. She has also reached five Grand Slam quarterfinals in three different Grand Slams, becoming the first Estonian to achieve this and was the first Estonian to be ranked in the world's top 20. She won her second WTA title at the Brisbane International and her third at the Portugal Open, both in 2012. Her most recent title came at the Brussels Open in 2013.

Career

Kaia Kanepi was born in Haapsalu.^[2] Her father, Jaak (a real estate broker) and mother Anne (a homemaker) played tennis. They also have daughters Kadri, who won a tennis scholarship to study in the United States, and Karin, a dedicated horse rider. Kaia, who always watched her parents and sisters play, discovered her love for tennis at an early age. She started playing at the age of 8.

Her family has always supported her desire to play professional tennis. She reached world number one in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior rankings before turning professional in 2000. She has won eight ITF singles titles and is the top-ranked Estonian female tennis player.

Until the autumn of 2007, Kaia was coached by Andrei Luzgin. After Luzgin, Fredrik Loven from Sweden became her coach, but their partnership ended in February 2008. Kanepi's next coach (until September 2008) was Pablo Giacopelli. From November 2008, she was coached by Luca Appino. After November 2009, Kanepi was coached by fellow Estonia pro Mait Künnap. In February 2010, she broke up with her coach and agent. In April, she started to work with Silver Karjus.

2004

Kanepi represented Estonia in both the women's singles and women's doubles, partnering Maret Ani, at the 2004 Summer Olympics, losing in the first round of both events.

2006

At the end of 2006, she reached her first WTA Tour final during the Gaz de France Stars tournament in Hasselt, Belgium. She came through three qualification rounds and beat Anne Kremer, Nathalie Dechy, Eleni Daniilidou, Francesca Schiavone, and Michaëlla Krajicek to eventually play the final against Kim Clijsters, to whom she lost in straight sets.

2007

At the Australian Open, Kanepi struggled, but defeated 28th-seeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy before losing to Alicia Molik in the second round. At Indian Wells, she defeated wildcard Kristina Brandi in the first round, but lost in the second round to 14th seed and eventual champion Daniela Hantuchová. At the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, she stunned Patty Schnyder in the second round, before losing to qualifier Vera Dushevina in the next round.

In late July, Kanepi reached the semifinals of the Bad Gastein tournament in Austria, where she fell to Francesca Schiavone. This was her third career semifinal and first of the year. Afterwards, she made her top 40 debut at world number 40.

2008: French Open Quarterfinal

At the French Open, Kanepi defeated sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze in the second round. She then defeated 29th-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues for a place in the fourth round. Outplaying unseeded Petra Kvitová she reached the quarterfinals, where she was defeated by fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in straight sets.

Kanepi was granted direct entry at Wimbledon, where she lost in the first round to sixth seed Serena Williams.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Kanepi reached the third round, defeating Flavia Pennetta and Virginie Razzano, before losing to Li Na.

At the US Open, she defeated Monica Niculescu in the first round, but lost to Amélie Mauresmo in the second round.

In September, Kanepi reached the quarterfinals as a qualifier of the Tier I Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, where she defeated Vera Dushevina, world number 13 Chakvetadze, and Virginie Razzano, before losing to world number five Dinara Safina of Russia. She then reached the semifinals of the Hansol Women's Open in Seoul, South Korea, where she was beaten by the eventual champion and first seed Maria Kirilenko.

She then made only her second final at the WTA level at the Tier III Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo. She defeated Lucie Šafářová, Yanina Wickmayer, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and 8th seed Aleksandra Wozniak, before losing in the final to Danish then world number 16 and top seed Caroline Wozniacki in three sets.

She was named the 2008 Best Female Athlete of Estonia by the Association of Estonian Sports Journalists.^[3]

2009

Kanepi reached her career-best third round at the Australian Open, but lost miserably to then world number three Dinara Safina in straight sets. She had an epic match with Kimiko Date, former world number four, in the first round.

She was a member of the Estonia Fed Cup team in rounds played in February. She was paired with Maret Ani, and the Estonian team beat Bulgaria, Croatia, and Belarus. Kanepi won all the singles rubbers that she played (including a win over then world number 15 Victoria Azarenka). She set a new personal 196 kilometres per hour (122 mph) serve record in the tournament, among the fastest ever served by a woman.

Kanepi continued her season at the 2009 Open GDF Suez, a WTA premier tournament, but lost in the second round to Émilie Loit.

At the top-level Dubai Tennis Championships, she advanced to the third round to set up a match with former world number one Jelena Janković. She defeated Janković in straight sets. She was the highest-seeded player Kanepi had by that time defeated. Kanepi then beat Elena Vesnina in the quarterfinals in straight sets. She was, however, denied a place in the finals by Virginie Razzano.

Kanepi then participated at the Rome Masters. She defeated Patty Schnyder in the third round, but lost to Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinals. Her next tournament was the 2009 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, where she was seeded sixteenth. However, she retired in the first round against Lucie Šafářová. In the French Open opening round, Kanepi was defeated by Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova in the first surprise of the day. Her first round loss led to a drop in her ranking, as she fell to world number 24.

She was then scheduled to play at the 2009 Aegon Classic in Birmingham as the second seed. However, she then withdrew because of a knee injury. Kanepi was seeded 25th at the 2009 Wimbledon Championships, but lost to Carla Suárez Navarro in the first round.

Kanepi lost her opening matches at Bastad and Portoroz. Her bad form continued when she lost 3 straight 1st round matches during the US Open Series. She fell in the first round of the 2009 US Open to qualifier Chang Kai-chen in three sets.

Kanepi lost to Chang again in the first round at Tokyo. She suffered a first round loss at the 2009 China Open in Beijing to Serena Williams in a match where she had more break points than Serena and lost 5–7, 4–6. This was her 12th straight loss. Kanepi ended her losing streak at an ITF tournament Dubai in December, where she defeated Yuliana Fedak in straight sets in the first round. She then lost to Regina Kulikova.

2010: Wimbledon and US Open Quarterfinals

By the start of the new season, Kanepi seemed to be in better physical shape than in 2009. Kanepi reached the second round at the ASB Classic, defeating world number 15 Li Na in straight sets, before losing to Maria Kirilenko in the second round. She fell in the first round of the 2010 Moorilla Hobart International to seventh seed Zheng Jie in a tight three-setter. At the first Grand Slam of the year at the 2010 Australian Open, Kanepi defeated Chan Yung-jan in the first round, but fell to 19th seed Nadia Petrova in the second round.

Kanepi was seeded fifth at the Cellular South Cup in Memphis. She was in the same half of the draw as Maria Sharapova. She defeated Arantxa Rus in the first round, and former world number seven Nicole Vaidišová in the second round. She fell in three sets to fifth seed Petra Kvitová in the quarterfinals. Despite this, Kanepi's ranking fell to world number 96, due to the fact that she did not defend her points from Dubai from the previous year.

Kanepi reached the second round in Acapulco, but lost to top seed and defending champion Venus Williams. Kanepi also fell in the second round of the 2010 Monterrey Open to second seed Daniela Hantuchová in straight sets.

Kanepi then competed in two Premier Mandatory tournaments. At the 2010 BNP Paribas Open and the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open, she fell in the first rounds to Sorana Cîrstea and Lucie Šafářová respectively. Kanepi's ranking fell out of the top 100 following these tournaments.

Kanepi then represented Estonia in the 2010 Fed Cup World Group Play-offs against Belgium. She was defeated by world number 12 Yanina Wickmayer in her first match, but surprisingly defeated former world number one Justine Henin in her second match-up.

At the beginning of May, Kanepi won ten straight matches to claim her seventh and eighth career ITF tournaments. Kanepi qualified for the 2010 French Open, where she defeated Pauline Parmentier in the first round. She pushed world number four Jelena Janković to three sets before losing in round two.^[4] This allowed her ranking to re-enter the top 100.

At the 2010 Internazionali Femminili di Palermo, Kanepi won her first WTA singles title. She defeated top seed Flavia Pennetta for the title. At the start of the grass court season, she reached the quarterfinals as a qualifier at 2010 Aegon Classic in Birmingham, defeating 12th seed Elena Baltacha, Jarmila Groth, and Michelle Larcher de Brito en route, before losing to top seed and eventual champion Li Na.

Kanepi then qualified for the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, defeating Olga Savchuk, Elena Bovina, and Ajla Tomljanović in straight sets. In the first round, Kanepi caused a big upset when she defeated world number six and French Open finalist Samantha Stosur.^[5] She then defeated Edina Gallovits in the second round, and world number 31 Alexandra Dulgheru in round three. Kanepi then reached her second Grand Slam quarterfinal, when she defeated Klára Zakopalová in the fourth round.^[6] In the quarterfinals, Kanepi lost an extremely tough three-set match to Czech Petra Kvitová, despite having a total of five match points and being a double break up in the final set. With her success at Wimbledon, Kanepi's ranking rose to world number 38.

Kanepi next played at the 2010 Swedish Open, where she fell in the first round to fifth seed Arantxa Parra Santonja. However, Kanepi continued her strong play at the 2010 Internazionali Femminili di Palermo where, as the fifth seed, she defeated Rossana de los Ríos, Raluca Olaru, third seed Sara Errani and Romina Oprandi to reach her third WTA tour final. In the final, Kanepi defeated top seed, world number 12, and defending champion Flavia Pennetta, not dropping a set in the whole tournament to claim her first WTA tour title.

Kanepi was seeded 31st at the 2010 US Open. She defeated Alizé Cornet, Akgul Amanmuradova, fourth seed Jelena Janković and 15th seed Yanina Wickmayer to advance to her first US Open quarterfinal, where she lost to the seventh seed and eventual runner-up Vera Zvonareva.

Kanepi then entered the 2010 Toray Pan Pacific Open and defeated Melanie Oudin in the first round. She then upset 13th seed Shahar Pe'er and third seed Jelena Janković in succession. Her run was ended in the quarterfinals by French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, who beat Kanepi in three sets. Her final tournament of the year was the 2010 China Open. She defeated 16th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the first round but lost to Kvitová in the second round.

2011

Kanepi started her season with a loss to Bojana Jovanovski, in the first round of the 2011 Medibank International Sydney. Her next tournament was the 2011 Australian Open, where she was the 20th seed. There, she defeated Magdaléna Rybáriková in the first round, but fell to Julia Görges in round two. Kanepi, as the third seed, reached the semifinal in 2011 Open GDF Suez, where she beat Anastasija Sevastova, Sofia Arvidsson and Dominika Cibulková. In the semifinal, she faced the first seed Kim Clijsters, who was too strong for Kanepi this time, and Kanepi lost the match in straight sets.

Kanepi was the 14th seed at the Indian Wells Masters. She had a bye in the first round, and in the second round defeated Gisela Dulko. She lost in the third round to 23rd seed Yanina Wickmayer. At the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open, she was the 14th seed but lost to Virginie Razzano in her opening match after having a first round bye.

She lost her opening matches at the 2011 Mutua Madrid Open and 2011 Internazionali BNL d'Italia to Julia Görges and Romina Oprandi respectively. She qualified for the 2011 Brussels Open but was defeated by Yanina Wickmayer in the first round. At the 2011 French Open, seeded 16th, she beat Sofia Arvidsson and Britain's Heather Watson in straight sets, before being upset in the third round by unseeded Ekaterina Makarova.

Kanepi had a poor grass court season. She lost all her opening round matches at Birmingham to qualifier Arina Rodionova after having a first round bye, at Eastbourne to 4th seed Francesca Schiavone and at Wimbledon to Sara Errani. She consequently fell out of the Top 30.

Kanepi lost in the second round at the 2011 US Open to qualifier Sílvia Soler Espinosa. She had good results during the Asian swing. At the Toray Pan Pacific Open, Kanepi beat world number one Caroline Wozniacki in the third round to reach the quarterfinals, where she lost to Agnieszka Radwańska. At the China Open, she met Wozniacki in the 3rd round again but lost this time. Kanepi reached the final at the Moscow, losing to Dominika Cibulkova in three sets. She also reached the semifinals of an ITF event in Helsinki.

2012: 2nd French Open Quarterfinal

Kanepi entered her first tournament of the year in Brisbane. She defeated Alexandra Panova in the first round before upsetting number seven seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova^[7] and number two seed Andrea Petkovic.^[8] In the semifinals, she defeated number three seed Francesca Schiavone^[9] to book her place in the final against Daniela Hantuchová, which she went on to win in straight sets, her second WTA title.^[10] Kanepi then entered the first Grand Slam of the year, the 2012 Australian Open, and in the first round overpowered Johanna Larsson, but lost in second round to future quarterfinalist Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets.^[11]

She then passed a chance to represent her nation in 2012 Fed Cup, wanting to dedicate herself to singles tournaments,^[12] but her hopes were cut short when she had to pull out of the Open GDF Suez tournament in Paris due to a sore shoulder.^[13] The injury also forced her to skip tournaments in Doha and Dubai.^[14]

Kanepi returned in March at the 2012 BNP Paribas Open and lost to Chanelle Scheepers in the second round. At the Sony Ericsson Open she also lost in the second round to Sílvia Soler Espinosa in straight sets. At the end of the month Kanepi and her coach for the last two years, Silver Karjus, split up over a psychologist, who supposedly influenced Kanepi's direction so much that it was impossible for him to continue working with the her.^[15] She then entered the 2012 e-Boks Open as the 5th seed and won against Anastasia Rodionova and Tímea Babos to reach the quarterfinals where she lost to number three seed Jelena Janković. Kanepi then went on to win her third WTA title at the 2012 Estoril Open, defeating Carla Suárez Navarro in the final.^[16][17]

Before the French Open, Kanepi reached the semifinals at the 2012 Brussels Open, she lost to Agnieszka Radwańska. At Roland Garros, Kanepi entered as the 23rd seed and played a very good tournament given her ranking, defeating ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki in the third and Arantxa Rus in the fourth round, but was defeated in the quarterfinals by Maria Sharapova in straight sets.^[18] An achilles billateral injury caused Kanepi to withdraw from Birmingham, Eastbourne, Wimbledon^[19][20] and eventually also from the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.^[21][22] Despite not having played since the French Open she reached a career high of number 15 on 20 August.

Kanepi returned from injury at the 2012 KDB Korea Open, she reached her third final of the year. This time she faced Caroline Wozniacki and lost in straight sets. At the 2012 Toray Pan Pacific Open, she lost in second round to Jamie Hampton.

2013

Her continuing Achilles tendon bilateral injury caused Kanepi to withdraw from the Australian Open, Indian Wells, and Miami tournaments in 2013. However, she returned to the tour in April, playing the 2013 BNP Paribas Katowice Open, losing in the second round to Karolína Plíšková. Again, Kanepi lost in the second round at the 2013 Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem, this time to Mandy Minella. Kanepi failed to defend her title at Estoril when she lost to Carla Suárez Navarro in the semifinals.

She reached the quarterfinals at the 2013 Mutua Madrid Open where she lost to eventual finalist Maria Sharapova. Kanepi reached the final at the 2013 Brussels Open and defeated Peng Shuai for her 4th WTA title. She exited the 2013 French Open in the second round, losing to Swiss Stefanie Vögele in a tight three-setter. At Wimbledon, she played well and beat the home favourite Laura Robson in the fourth round before she was beaten in the quarterfinals by Germany's Sabine Lisicki.

At the US Open Kanepi was the 25th seed. She faced American wildcard Vania King in the first round, winning in three sets. She beat Anna Karolína Schmiedlová in the second round, but lost to Angelique Kerber in the third. Kanepi then lost to Lucie Šafářová in the second round at the Beijing. At the 2013 Kremlin Cup, she fell to Samantha Stosur in the first round. She ended 2013 with a loss to Jovana Jakšić of Serbia in the second round of an ITF tournament in Egypt.

2014

Kanepi started 2014 by reaching the quarterfinals in Brisbane, where she was defeated by Maria Sharapova. In Sydney, she lost in the second round to Angelique Kerber. At the Australian Open, she was the 23rd seed but was defeated in the first round by Spain's Garbiñe Muguruza.

Kanepi defeated Varvara Lepchenko in the first round at Doha but fell to seventh seed and eventual champion Simona Halep in the next round. She then lost in the first round of the 2014 Dubai Tennis Championships to Flavia Pennetta. Kanepi reached the quarterfinals at Acapulco, she then lost to Christina McHale. Kanepi received a first round bye at the 2014 BNP Paribas Open, but lost to Yaroslava Shvedova in her opening match. She reached the third round at Miami, losing to 15th seed Carla Suárez Navarro in straight sets. At the 2014 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, she defeated lucky loser Johanna Konta in the first round but lost to Sara Errani in round two.

At the 2014 Portugal Open, she defeated Yvonne Meusburger in her opening match. She then lost to Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu. In Madrid, she lost in the first round to Alison Riske. She fell out of the top 30 after this tournament. Kanepi lost to Monica Niculescu in the first round at Roland Garros. She fell to Yvonne Meusburger in the first round at the 2014 Topshelf Open. At Wimbledon, she faced 7th seed Jelena Janković in the first round and won in straight sets but then lost to Yaroslava Shvedova in the following round. After failing to defend quarterfinal points, she fell out of the top 50. Kanepi then won her ninth ITF title in Biarritz, defeating Teliana Pereira in the final.

Kanepi defeated Johanna Larsson in the first round at the 2014 Swedish Open. She then reached her third quarterfinal of 2014 with a victory over Richèl Hogenkamp. Despite being the favourite, Kanepi lost to Mona Barthel in straight sets. She fell in qualifying for the 2014 Connecticut Open. At the US Open, Kanepi defeated Pauline Parmentier in the first round before narrowly defeating Samantha Stosur to face Spaniard Carla Suárez Navarro. Kanepi upset her in straight sets and set up a clash with world no.1 Serena Williams in the round of 16. She lost in straight sets.

In September, Kanepi played at the 2014 KDB Korea Open where she was the 6th seed. She cruised to the quarterfinals after defeating Elizaveta Kulichkova and Kristýna Plíšková.

2015

Kanepi began her 2015 year at the 2015 Brisbane International. In the 1st round, she upset 5th seed Andrea Petkovic 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. ^[23] In the 2nd round, she defeated qualifier Madison Brengle 6-3, 7-6(3). ^[24] In the quarterfinals, Kanepi lost to 2nd seed and eventual finalist Ana Ivanovic 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. After Brisbane, Kanepi competed at the 2015 Hobart International. She defeated Mónica Puig in the first round 6-4, 6-1. Kanepi then withdrew from her 2nd round match against Camila Giorgi due to a viral illness. At the 2015 Australian Open, Kanepi lost in the 1st round to wildcard Irina Falconi 2-6, 6-4, 7-5.

After the Australian Open, Kanepi competed at the 2015 Dubai Tennis Championships. In the 1st round, Kanepi faced Svetlana Kuznetsova. Kuznetsova led 4-1 in the 1st set before Kanepi retired due to a back injury. At the 2015 BNP Paribas Open, Kanepi lost in the 1st round to qualifier Ons Jabeur 7-5, 6-2. At the 2015 Miami Open, Kanepi had her 1st win since Hobart by defeating wildcard Françoise Abanda in the 1st round 6-2, 6-3. In the 2nd round, she beat 28th seed Varvara Lepchenko 6-2, 6-4. In the 3rd round, Kanepi took 4th seed Caroline Wozniacki to 3 sets, but Kanepi still lost 4-6, 6-1, 6-3. After Miami, Kanepi played at the 2015 Katowice Open. She defeated qualifier Shahar Pe'er in the 1st round 6-1, 6-2. Lucky Loser Elizaveta Kulichkova defeated Kanepi in the 2nd round 6-1, 6-2.

Kanepi started her clay court season at the 2015 Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem where she lost in the 1st round to qualifier Teliana Pereira 6-3, 6-2. At the 2015 Mutua Madrid Open, Kanepi beat Madison Keys in the 1st round 6-4, 6-3. In the 2nd round, she lost to Samantha Stosur 6-3, 6-2. At the 2015 French Open, Kanepi lost in the 1st round to 2nd seed, former World Number 1, and Defending Champion Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-4. After the French Open, Kanepi played the 100K tournament in Marseille. She lost in the 1st round to Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-3, 5-7, 6-2.

At the 2015 Wimbledon Championships, Kanepi was defeated in the 1st round by qualifier Hsieh Su-Wei 6-1, 6-4.

Kanepi played only one tournament during the US Open Series which was the 2015 Connecticut Open. She lost in the 2nd round of qualifying to 6th seed Magdaléna Rybáriková 6-4, 1-6, 6-2. At the 2015 US Open, Kanepi won her 1st Grand Slam match of the year by beating Anna-Lena Friedsam in the 1st round 6-1, 6-1. Kanepi then lost in the 2nd round to 17th seed Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-4.

At the 100K tournament in Biarritz, Kanepi was defeated in the 1st round by Amra Sadiković 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4). At the 50,000+H tournament in Saint-Malo, Kanepi lost in the quarterfinals to Daria Kasatkina 2-6, 6-1, 6-1. Kanepi then played qualifying at the 2015 Generali Ladies Linz. She lost in the final round of qualifying to 7th seed Aleksandra Krunić 6-3, 6-2. Kanepi's final tournament of the year was the 2015 Kremlin Cup where she was the 8th seed for qualifying. Kanepi ended up losing in the 1st round of qualifying to Paula Kania 1-6, 7-6(4), 6-3.

Kanepi ended 2015 ranked 122.

2016

Kanepi began the 2016 year by playing qualifying at the 2016 Brisbane International. In the 1st round of qualifying, she beat Virginie Razzano 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-1. In the 2nd round of qualifying, she faced 4th seed Kateryna Bondarenko. Bondarenko led 7-5, 2-2 before Kanepi retired.

Playing style

Kanepi builds up her game around her powerful groundstrokes. Her serve is considered to be one of the strongest on the WTA tour. Kanepi frequently hits 170 km/h to 180 km/h serves. She generally serves for power and tries to hit the lines but sometimes hits a powerful body serve to push her opponents behind the baseline. But sometimes her serve can break down which affects her game. In 2008 she began to improve her volleying skills and under her coach Luca Appino begun to use sliced backhand more often thus making her playing more versatile.

She likes to return serves mainly with her backhand which she hits extremely flat and tries to position herself to receive with backhand but is also capable of hitting good service returns with her forehand as well. She likes to end points early but she is capable of playing long rallies and reducing her unforced error count. Overall, she is an offensive baseliner but depending on the game situation and scoreboard Kanepi can play a more defensive game.

Sponsorship

For a long time Kanepi was sponsored by Infortar, the largest shareholder of Tallink, a major ferry company in the Baltic Sea. Their sponsorship ended in February 2010, but later started again.^[25]

WTA finals

Singles (4–4)

Legend Grand Slam tournaments (0–0) WTA Tour Championships (0–0) Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (0–0) Premier (2–1) International (2–3)

Finals by surface Hard (1–4) Clay (3–0) Grass (0–0) Carpet (0–0)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1.	5 November 2006	Gaz de France Stars, Hasselt, Belgium	Hard (i)	Kim Clijsters	3–6, 6–3, 4–6
Runner-up	2.	5 October 2008	Japan Open Tennis Championships, Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Caroline Wozniacki	2–6, 6–3, 1–6
Winner	1.	18 July 2010	Internazionali Femminili di Palermo, Palermo, Italy	Clay	Flavia Pennetta	6–4, 6–3
Runner-up	3.	23 October 2011	Kremlin Cup, Moscow, Russia	Hard (i)	Dominika Cibulková	6–3, 6–7(1–7), 5–7
Winner	2.	7 January 2012	Brisbane International, Brisbane, Australia	Hard	Daniela Hantuchová	6–2, 6–1
Winner	3.	5 May 2012	Estoril Open, Estoril, Portugal	Clay	Carla Suárez Navarro	3–6, 7–6(8–6), 6–4
Runner-up	4.	23 September 2012	Korea Open, Seoul, South Korea	Hard	Caroline Wozniacki	1–6, 0–6
Winner	4.	25 May 2013	Brussels Open, Brussels, Belgium	Clay	Peng Shuai	6–2, 7–5

Doubles (0–1)

Legend Grand Slam tournaments (0–0) WTA Tour Championships (0–0) Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (0–0) Premier (0–0) International (0–1)

Finals by surface Hard (0–1) Clay (0–0) Grass (0–0) Carpet (0–0)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1.	15 April 2012	e-Boks Open, Copenhagen, Denmark	Hard	Sofia Arvidsson	Kimiko Date-Krumm Rika Fujiwara	2–6, 6–4, [5–10]

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Tournament	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	SR	W–L
Australian Open	A	Q2	A	Q2	A	Q1	2R	1R	3R	2R	2R	2R	A	1R	1R	A	0 / 8	6–8
French Open	A	A	A	Q2	A	2R	1R	QF	1R	2R	3R	QF	2R	1R	1R	Q2	0 / 10	13–10
Wimbledon	A	A	A	A	A	1R	2R	1R	1R	QF	1R	A	QF	2R	1R	A	0 / 9	10–9
US Open	A	Q1	Q2	A	Q2	3R	1R	2R	1R	QF	2R	A	3R	4R	2R	A	0 / 9	14–9
Win–Loss	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	3–3	2–4	5–4	2–4	10–4	4–4	5–2	7–3	4–4	1-4		0 / 36	43–36
WTA Premier Mandatory tournaments
Indian Wells	A	A	A	A	A	1R	2R	2R	3R	1R	3R	2R	A	2R			0 / 8	4–8
Miami	A	A	A	A	A	A	3R	4R	3R	1R	2R	2R	A	3R			0 / 7	7–7
Madrid	Not held								1R	A	1R	1R	QF	1R			0 / 5	3–5
Beijing	Tier IV		Tier II						1R	2R	3R	A	2R	1R			0 / 4	2–4
WTA Premier 5 tournaments
Dubai	Tier II								SF	A	3R	Premier					0 / 2	6–2
Doha	Tier III			Tier II				A	Not held		P	A	A	1R			0 / 0	0–1
Rome	A	A	A	A	A	A	2R	1R	QF	A	1R	A	A	A			0 / 4	4–4
Montreal / Toronto	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	3R	A	A	A	A			0 / 2	2–2
Cincinnati	Not held			Tier III					1R	Q1	A	A	A	A			0 / 1	0–1
Tokyo	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	QF	1R	QF	QF	2R	A	NP5			0 / 5	9–5
Career statistics	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	No.
Tournaments played	1	3	N/A	1	2	16	17	21	21	18	17	11	9	22			137
Titles	0	0	N/A	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	1	0			4
Finals reached	0	0	N/A	0	0	1	0	1	0	1	1	3	1	0			8
Overall win–loss	0–1	2–3	N/A	0–1	3–2	14–16	13–17	30–21	15–21	29–17	18–17	25–9	20–8	28-21			389-235
Year-end ranking	203	283	167	226	120	64	75	27	61	22	34	19	30	52	122

Grand Slam doubles performance timeline

Tournament	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	SR	W–L
Australian Open		1R		1R	1R	2R	2R		2R	0 / 6	3–6
French Open	1R	1R	1R	2R		2R	3R		3R	0 / 7	6–7
Wimbledon	1R	1R	3R	3R	2R				1R	0 / 6	5–6
US Open	1R	1R	1R	1R	1R			1R		0 / 6	0–6
Win–Loss	0–3	0–4	2–3	3–4	1–3	2–2	3–2	0–1	3–3	0 / 22	14–25

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kaia Kanepi.

• Official website
• Kaia Kanepi at the Women's Tennis Association
• Kaia Kanepi at the International Tennis Federation
• Kaia Kanepi at the Fed Cup
  

Awards
Preceded by Irina Embrich	Estonian Sportswoman of the Year 2008	Succeeded by Ksenija Balta