Sofia Kenin: On the right track despite defeat
Sofia Kenin was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the WTA 500 tournament in Adelaide. Nevertheless, the American can be satisfied with her first matches since Wimbledon.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit:
Jan 08, 2022, 07:54 pm
Sofia Kenin and Australia. There was something? Right! Around two years ago, the American won the Australian Open completely by surprise and thus won a Grand Slam title for the first time in her career. In the same year Kenin also reached the final of the French Open, in which she was clearly defeated by Iga Swiatek 4: 6 and 1: 6.
The year 2020 was still a magical one for the now 23-year-old despite the corona pandemic, she was quickly brought back to the hard ground of reality in the preseason. In Melbourne, Kenin was not up to the pressure to defend her title at all, after her second-round defeat against Kaia Kanepi, she burst into tears at the subsequent press conference.
Foot and corona cause problems
The season for Kenin should not be sustainably better after the trip to Australia: Due to a foot injury and a corona infection, she was unable to contest a tournament after the major event in Wimbledon. But now Kenin is back on the match court - and on the continent of all places where she was able to celebrate her greatest triumph to date.
In Adelaide, however, the US-American was not granted another tournament victory, in the quarterfinals it was over against world number one Ashleigh Barty after a 3-6 and 4-6 defeat. And yet Kenin showed promising approaches in her comeback tournament, both playfully and combatively: In the second round, she even fended off three match points against Ajla Tomljanovic.
Kenin satisfied with the preparation
Kenin told the WTA a little while before the tournament started: "I think my preparation was good. At the moment I will just enjoy every moment. I haven't played in a long time, so there's no pressure on me. But I want to do well and I want to win. So it's not like I go out on the pitch and don't worry. "
After all, she is still the "combative child who hates to lose". The goals for the current season are therefore ambitious despite the long break: "Of course I would like to win slams or a slam (...). I don't want to sound like a spoiled little brat, but that would of course be great."