"My hand was shaking" says Kanepi on having match points against Sabalenka

World No.115 Kaia Kanepi conjured a "crazy" 5-7 6-2 7-6[10-7] triumph over second seed Aryna Sabalenka to inch into the Australian Open 2022 quarterfinals on Monday night.

The Estonian stalwart relinquished four match points at the tail-end of the third set and celebrated her landmark victory a point too early in the match tiebreak, before closing out the sizeable shock on Margaret Court Arena. On wasting those chances, Kanepi admitted to feeling like she was going to lose:

"Actually, I thought I was going to lose it after the match points I had on my serve. It was really difficult to come back. I don't know how I managed to do it."

The win is a significant one as Kanepi has now reached the quarterfinal at each Grand Slam at least once:

Read also

Australian Open Quarterfinals Day 1 Schedule of Play with Nadal, Barty and Monfils v Berrettini

"Australian Open was the only quarterfinal Grand Slam that I'm missing. My age … I didn't actually believe I will do it. I'm really happy."

Kanepi wasted a few match points on her own serve but came back to win in the tiebreak and speaking about the match she admitted to having shaky hands:

"I was really tight. My hand was shaking when I started serving. I didn't make any first serves in, and that added to the pressure. It was quite crazy … I think I would be more happy if I won after two, three match points. It was really close that I lost the match. I feel a bit exhausted right now. It was really difficult."