Kaia Kanepi

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Kaia Kanepi (pronunciation: KEYE-ah ka-NEP-I; born June 10, 1985 in Tallinn) is an Estonian professional female tennis player. She ranks #64 as of November 13th, just 2 places away from her previous career-high No.62 (June 12th, 2006). She is right-handed and play two-handed backhand. Her favourite surface is clay.

Her father, Jaak, 53 (A real estate broker) and Mother Anne, 52(a homemaker) played tennis. There introduced their daughters Kadri, 30; who won a tennis scholarship to study in USA and Karin 29; a horse rider and horse lover. 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. Thanks to her family, who have always supported her desire to play pro tennis, she reached world No.1 on ITF Junior Rankings, before turning pro in 2000. She’s won six ITF singles titles on the way and is now top-ranked Estonian female tennis player followed by Maret Ani at #127 and Margit Rüütel, at #184.

Kaia’s dream is to be world No. 1 someday. She is a great admirer of Anna Kournikova, Martina Hingis, Marat Safin, Andy Roddick and Roger Federer. She currently lives in Haapsalu, Estonia, but trains with her coach Andrei Luzgin in Tallinn.

Kaia is a down to earth girl; she is loyal to her family, friends and fans, she loves Estonian food; also Sushi and Indian food. She loves Tommy Hilfiger and is very comfortable in jeans. She is single and has no kids, but two lovely pets; a boxer dog, Blanco and a cat, Johnni. She does not drink nor does she smoke. She enjoys listening to slow music and dance music, also R&B.

She blames her high ranking to wrong decision in her early career, but from her performance during the Gaz de France Stars tournament in Hasselt, Belgium, one can see the 2 times a day, 6 days a week training is paying off and she is determined to reach the top 20 next year. She loves the Tennis Grand Slam and is determined to do better next year.^[1]

At the end of the 2006 season, she reached her very first WTA-tour final during the Gaz de France Stars tournament in Hasselt, Belgium. She came through three qualification rounds and beat players like Anne Kremer, Nathalie Dechy, Eleni Daniilidou, Francesca Schiavone and Michaella Krajicek to eventually play the final against Kim Clijsters, where she lost, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6.

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