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Defending champion Sofia Kenin admits she struggled with the pressure of being the hunted after being knocked out of the Australian Open in the second round.

Sofia Kenin's Australian Open defence has ended with a whimper after Kaia Kanepi ousted the American in straight sets.

Kanepi was on the front foot from the outset and never seriously looked troubled by the fourth seed in a 6-3 6-2 second-round rout on Thursday.

"I served really well today - i think this helped a lot," Kanepi said.

"But my game plan was play aggressively, as I normally do."

The Estonian veteran will meet 28th seed Donna Vekic in the third round after the Croatian made light work of Argentina's Nadia Podoroska with a 6-2 6-2 victory.

Kenin is the biggest domino to fall so far at Melbourne Park.

Beyond her Australian Open triumph, the American also made the final of the French Open and was named WTA player of the year.

But she had a difficult start to summer, copping a straight-sets thumping from Garbina Muguruza in the quarter-finals of last week's Yarra Valley Classic, then being well tested by Maddison Inglis in the first round.

Kenin beat Ash Barty in last year's semi-final and was on track to again meet Australia's world No.1 in this year's final four.

Her exit further opens the door for Barty to claim an elusive grand slam title on home soil.

A player known for letting her emotions spill out on court, Kenin struggled to maintain composure after an early break of serve saw her slump to a 4-1 deficit in the first set.

Kanepi broke Kenin a second time then ripped through her final service game to close out the set.

Kenin looked poised to respond after cruising through her opening service game, but was unable to best Kanepi's serve and was instead herself broken twice in the second set.

Kanepi relished her service games throughout and her confidence came to the fore in the final game when, trailing 15-30, she ripped three consecutive aces to win the match.