21-year-old American Kenin in Aussie final
To be the best, sometimes you do have to beat the best. That wasn’t an issue for Sofia Kenin on Thursday, when she took down top-ranked Ashleigh Barty 7-6 (8-6), 7-5 in the Australian Open semifinals in Melbourne.
Kenin, who became the youngest woman to defeat a world No. 1 in a major since 2002, will play in her first Grand Slam tournament final match Saturday against unseeded Garbiñe Muguruza.
“I’m so speechless. I honestly can’t believe this. I’ve just dreamed about this since I was 5 years old,” Kenin told the crowd during her post-match interview. “This wasn’t really an easy one.”
Kenin, who is seeded 14th, 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.
So who is America’s latest tennis sensation? Kenin was born in Moscow before her parents emigrated to the United States when she was a baby. She was raised in Florida and goes by “Sonya” among those close to her, according to her website.
At 7, Kenin began playing in USTA youth tournaments. By 2014, she was representing the U.S. at the Summer Youth Olympics and the Fed Cup team.
In 2017, she turned pro and made it to the third round of the U.S. Open before losing to Maria Sharapova. Kenin advanced to that stage of the U.S. Open for the next two years as well. Until this tournament, the 2019 French Open (fourth round) was the furthest she made it in a tournament. At Roland Garros that year, she upset Serena Williams in the third round.
Still, Kenin won 2019 WTA Most Improved Player of the Year honors thanks to three singles titles and achieved her highest ranking (No. 12).
Kenin’s father, Alex, has served as her primary coach her entire career.
Men’s singles: Despite a dominant start from Roger Federer with a 4-1, 40-0 lead in the first set, he began to fall apart, and Novak Djokovic took over, winning the match 7-6 (7-1), 6-4, 6-3 Thursday at Melbourne Park.
Said Djokovic: “Well, it could have definitely gone a different way if he used those break points. He started off really well. I was pretty nervous at the beginning. I just want to say respect to Roger for coming out tonight. He was obviously hurt and wasn’t at his best – even close to his best – in terms of movement. And respect for coming out and trying his best all the way through.”
Federer had battled groin and leg issues in his quarterfinal match, too.
Djokovic will play the winner of Friday’s Thiem-Alexander Zverev semifinal.