Kenin in Australian Open final after beating No. 1 seed Barty
So long in the shadows of other American tennis players, Sofia Kenin is into her first Grand Slam final at age 21 — and she beat the woman ranked No. 1 to get there.
Kenin did it by never flinching, even when she twice was a single point from losing each set of her Australian Open semifinal against Ash Barty before pulling out the 76 (6), 75 victory on a stiflingly hot Thursday in Melbourne.
“This really wasn’t an easy one,” said the 14thseeded Kenin, who never had been past the fourth round at a major tournament until now.
Kenin, who was born in Russia and moved to Florida as a baby, burst onto the scene in 2019 by winning three singles titles and upsetting Serena Williams in the third round of the French Open.
She hadn’t faced a seeded player this month in Melbourne until Thursday, but did eliminate 15yearold American Coco Gauff in the fourth round.
This was not Barty’s first foray onto this stage: She won the French Open last June, beating Kenin along the way. But Barty was hardly at her best, especially at the most crucial moments, perhaps overwhelmed by the task of trying to become the first Australian woman to reach the final of the country’s Grand Slam tournament since 1980.
Instead, Kenin is the first American other than a Williams sister to reach the Australian Open final since Lindsay Davenport in 1995. And Kenin is the first American woman to beat the No. 1 player at a major since Serena topped Venus at Wimbledon in 2002.
On Saturday, Kenin will go up against either No. 4 Simona Halep or unseeded Garbiñe Muguruza. Those two twotime major champions and former No. 1s were to face each other in Thursday’s second semifinal.
“I’m not even going to look,” Kenin said of the other semifinal. “I’m just going to relax and enjoy this moment. I’m just looking forward to the final.”
Late Wednesday, fifthseeded Dominic Thiem advanced to the men’s semifinals by outlasting No. 1 seed Rafael Nadal 76 (3), 76 (4), 46, 76 (6).
“He’s playing with a lot of energy … (and) determination. So well done for him,” Nadal said. “I honestly didn’t play a bad match.”
Thiem reached his fifth major semifinal but first somewhere other than at the French Open. He’ll play No. 7 Alexander Zverev on Friday for a berth in the title match.
Zverev reached his first major semifinal anywhere with a 16, 63, 64, 62 victory over threetime Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka.