The 2020 tennis year of… Sofia Kenin
Sofia Kenin almost won two Grand Slam titles this year. The balance is still terrific.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Dec 23, 2020, 07:35 pm
The US-American already proved that Sofia Kenin is not afraid of the big stage and the big names in Roland Garros in 2019: Kenin defeated Serena Williams, stopped her compatriot at the next attempt on the 24th major success. Less than a year and a half later, the 22-year-old, who was born in Moscow, almost secured the second Grand Slam title of the season and her career. Even Kenin couldn't stop Iga Swiatek's dream run in the final.
Annoying, but at the Australian Open it was Kenin who couldn't be stopped. In retrospect, it can hardly be said which one should be classified as the greater performance in Melbourne: the semi-final success against Ashleigh Barty - or the final victory against Garbine Muguruza , who was the favorite in the game due to her routine.
Kenin doesn't win a game against Azarenka
Especially since the tennis year 2020 had not started without problems for Sofia Kenin: In Brisbane against Naomi Osaka she lost in her second match as well as in Adelaide against Danielle Collins (on which she was able to return the favor during her run into the final of the French Open).
After the victory in Melbourne, Kenin was allowed to compete in the Fed Cup for the USA, against Latvia there was a smooth win against Anastasija Sevastova and a narrow defeat against Jelena Ostapenko. This was followed by early defeats in Dubai against Elena Rybakina and in Doha against Dayana Yastremska. Then there was the next, albeit much smaller, highlight of the season: Kenin won the second tournament of the year in Lyon, in the final against Anna-Lena Friedsam.
After the Corona break, things didn't go so well until Paris: In Cincinnati / New York it went bankrupt against Alizé Cornet, at the US Open it ended in the round of 16 against Elise Mertens. And in Rome Kenin went down against Victoria Azarenka with 0: 6 and 0: 6. All the more remarkable her successful run in Roland Garros.
Good quota as a server
And so Kenin winters in fourth place in the WTA world rankings, with a record of 24 wins and nine losses. For the fact that Sofia Kenin does not necessarily score direct points with her serve (66 aces were noted for the whole year), a success rate of 75.3 percent for her own service is not bad. Kenin won almost exactly a third of the games as a setback.