Australian Open

Sofia Kenin out to continue rankings surge at Aussie Open

Pines’ Sofia Kenin climbs rankings quickly.

Accolades have come quickly for Pembroke Pines’ Sofia Kenin, with her leap into professional tennis.

But as Alex Kenin, her coach and father, points out there has been nothing rapid about her ascension from prodigy to going toe-to-toe with top players on the women’s tour.

Kenin, preparing for her debut in the main draw of the Australian Open, which begins Monday in Melbourne, has been working toward this objective since first picking up her father’s racket when she was 5.

“It’s not quickly. It’s been a long time,” Alex Kenin said this week by phone from Australia. “I think it’s logical where she is now.”

Where the 19-year-old stands, four months into her pro career, is No. 104 in the WTA rankings, four spots closer to breaking into the top 100 since an impressive showing last week at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.

Kenin, a wild-card entry, won two matches and took the first set off top seed Caroline Wozniacki, ranked No. 2 in the world. It took Wozniacki nearly 2½ hours to emerge from the quarterfinal with a hard-fought 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 win.

The performance validated what Karl Budge, director of the Classic, said when the wild card was extended to provide the opportunity for Kenin to use the Auckland event as a career springboard, as fellow Broward County product Sloane Stephens and others have done.

“We think there is a lot of potential in Sofia also,” Budge said in late December. “She is a counterpuncher who has proven already she can win at the highest level. She has had some great wins this year, and her match with Sharapova at the U.S. Open showed a lot of promise.”