year by beating Anna-Lena Friedsam in the first round. She was defeated in the second round by 17th seed Elina Svitolina. Seeded third and the defending champion at the Engie Open de Biarritz, Kanepi lost in the first round to qualifier Amra Sadiković. Seeded second at the L'Open de Saint-Malo, Kanepi was defeated in her quarterfinal match by sixth seed and eventual champion, Daria Kasatkina. In Austria at the Linz Open, Kanepi lost in the final round of qualifying to Aleksandra Krunić. At the Kremlin Cup, Kanepi was defeated in the first round of qualifying by Paula Kania. Kanepi played her final tournament of the year at a $25k tournament in Bangkok, Thailand. She won the tournament as the top seed beating qualifier Patty Schnyder in the final. Kanepi ended the season ranked 126. 2016 Kanepi began season at the Brisbane International where she retired during her match in the second round of qualifying against Kateryna Bondarenko. In April, at the Stuttgart Grand Prix, she lost in the second round of qualifying to Camila Giorgi. Next, she played at the Morocco Open. After passing through the qualifying rounds, Kanepi lost in the first round to Kateryna Kozlova. At the French Open, Kanepi was defeated in the second round of qualifying by Verónica Cepede Royg. At the Internazionali di Brescia, Kanepi lost in the second round to fourth seed Maryna Zanevska. Seeded fifth at the $25k tournament in Padua, Italy, Kanepi was defeated in her quarterfinal match by third seed İpek Soylu. She ended 2016 ranked 302. 2017: Second US Open quarterfinal Kanepi returned from a long injury break in June at the Bredeney Ladies Open in Essen, Germany. She won the tournament when her opponent, seventh seed Patty Schnyder, retired from their championship match. In London at the Wimbledon Championships, Kanepi lost in the second round of qualifying to Arina Rodionova. At the Bucharest Open, Kanepi was defeated in the first round of qualifying by Arantxa Rus. Kanepi won a $15k tournament in Pärnu, Estonia, defeating Polina Golubovskaya in the final. Unable to obtain a wildcard or protected ranking for the main draw, Kanepi received a protected ranking to play in the qualifying for the US Open. She qualified to her first Grand Slam main draw in two years with victories over Nina Stojanović, Louisa Chirico and Hsieh Su-wei. Kanepi recorded victories in her first three main-draw matches, defeating Francesca