US Open: Simona Halep defeated by Kaia Kanepi, Irina begu and Ana Bogdan through

Two Romanian women tennis players have qualified on Monday to the next round of US Open. Irina Begu defeated Jennifer Brady (66^th WTA) 6-3, 6-3 and will face Qiang Wang (52^nd WTA) in the next round. Furthermore, Ana Bogdan (83^rd WTA) has qualified, after defeating Marie Bouzkova (Czech Republic) 6-4, 6-2. Bogdan will face Karolina Pliskova, 8^th seeded, in the second round.

However, Simona Halep, 1st WTA, was defeated on Monday by Kania Kanepi (4th WTA) 5-2, 6-4, in the first round of US Open.

“I never play my best tennis here, even if I’ve done quarterfinals, semi-finals,” she said after a 6-2, 6-4 loss to Kaia Kanepi. “I feel like my game is not at its best, at the best level. But always I fight for every match,” Halep said after the match, wtatennis.com informs.

“I was actually practicing okay yesterday and two days ago, but that’s it. It’s just a day, and it’s a bad day for me. She deserved to win because she was playing better than me today.”

The reigning Roland Garros champion endured a heartbreaking defeat in this very round last year in Flushing Meadows, falling to former No.1 Maria Sharapova in three tough sets. This summer had nonethless been promising after a title run at the Coupe Rogers and a runner-up finish at the Western & Southern Open.

“I was tired, but positive tired because I played so many matches in Montréal and Cincinnati. So I didn’t feel pressure of winning a Grand Slam, and feeling the pressure of ‘How is it gonna be now?’ No, I didn’t feel that.

“Today was not my day; the balance was not there. I couldn’t feel myself strong on the court to win this match,” Halep also said.