Melbourne (AFP) - Estonian sixth seed Anett Kontaveit was sent tumbling out of the Australian Open 6-2, 6-4 in the second round Thursday by fast-rising Danish teenager Clara Tauson.
The 19-year-old is making her main draw debut at Melbourne Park but proved too good for Kontaveit, seen by many as a serious title contender after a breakout 2021.
The Estonian captured four titles in two months last year before ending runner-up at the WTA Finals to Garbine Muguruza, but struggled against Tauson.
She won just 55 percent of her first serves and made 27 unforced errors for a disappointing end to her tournament.
In contrast, Tauson won 73 percent of her first serves and kept the error count down to just 13.
"I felt so good out here and I could hear a lot of people cheering and that gave me so much confidence and I played a very good match," said Tauson, at a career-high ranking of 39.
"I really didn't go into this match with the winning thought, I was just so happy to be here and Anett has been playing so good for the last couple of months.I was just going in to see where my level was at and here I am."
Tauson signalled her potential by making finals last year in Luxembourg and Lyon.
