NEW YORK (AP) — Simona Halep made a quick-as-can-be exit from the U.S. Open on Monday, becoming the first No. 1-seeded woman to lose her opening match at the Grand Slam tournament in the half-century of the professional era.

Halep simply was overwhelmed by the power-based game of 44th-ranked Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 6-2, 6-4 in a match that was stunningly lopsided and lasted all of 76 minutes.

It was the first match at the rebuilt Louis Armstrong Stadium, which now has a retractable roof, and what a way to get things started. That cover was not needed to protect from rain on Day 1 at the year's last major tournament — although some protection from the bright sun and its 90-degree (33-degree Celsius) heat might have been appreciated.

Since professionals were admitted to the Grand Slam tournaments in 1968, only five times did women who were seeded No. 1 lost their opening match at a major — and never before had it happened at the U.S. Open. It happened twice to Martina Hingis and once to Steffi Graf at Wimbledon, once to Angelique Kerber at the French Open and once to Virginia Ruzici at the Australian Open.

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