Tennis-Simona Halep v Kaia Kanepi

ByReuters

Published 14/01/2019 at 11:16 GMT

Jan 14 (Reuters) - A look at the records of Romanian Simona Halep and Estonian Kaia Kanepi before their first-round match at the Australian Open on Tuesday (prefix number denotes seeding):

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1-SIMONA HALEP

Age: 27

WTA Ranking: 1 (Highest ranking: 1)

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Grand Slam titles: 1 (French Open 2018)

2018 Australian Open performance: Runner-up (2018)

Best Australian Open performance: Runner-up (2018)

Halep can cover the court quickly despite her 1.68-metre frame and she has the ability to surprise opponents with winners even when she is on the back foot.

But the Romanian has her work cut out against Kanepi who eliminated her in straight sets in the first round of the U.S. Open last year.

KAIA KANEPI

Age: 33

WTA Ranking: 71 (Highest ranking: 15)

Grand Slam titles: 0

2018 Australian Open performance: Third round

Best Australian Open performance: Third round (2009, 2018)

At 33, Kanepi is well past her peak but holds a psychological advantage over Halep after beating her in New York last year.

An aggressive player with a powerful forehand and backhand, she might rely on her physical advantage too, considering she is 1.81 metres tall and stronger than Halep in rallies.

HEAD-TO-HEAD (Halep 1 - Kanepi 1)

2014 Halep d Kanepi 6-4 3-6 7-6(5) (Doha, hard)

2018 Kanepi d Halep 6-2 6-4 (U.S. Open, hard) (Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Amlan Chakraborty)

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