Australian Open: Sofia Kenin Defeats Garbiñe Muguruza for Her First Major Title

Kenin defeated Williams in the third round of the French Open last year, a victory that she said helped build her confidence. “I feel like, after that, things just took off,” Kenin said this week.

Kenin, who was named the WTA’s most improved player of 2019, racked up three WTA titles last year, but at minor stops on the tour: Hobart, Australia; Majorca, Spain; and Guangzhou, China. She had never advanced past the fourth round of a Grand Slam event before this tournament, when she did so by beating a more highly rated young American, the 15-year-old Coco Gauff.

Kenin’s championship comes at a time when no woman has been able to consistently dominate, leading to variety in the late rounds of Grand Slam tournaments. Saturday’s matchup between Muguruza and Kenin was the fourth consecutive women’s Grand Slam final without a top-five player. Kenin is the eighth first-time champion in the last 12 women’s Grand Slam events.

Kenin, seeded 14th, did not face any seeded opposition at this tournament until the semifinals, when she saved four set points to defeat top-seeded Ashleigh Barty, deflating the hopes of Australians who had banked on Barty’s becoming the country’s first homegrown singles champion since 1978.

Unlike Barty and several other Americans, Kenin flew largely under the radar outside of hard-core tennis circles before this tournament. Even though she has avoided some of the pressure felt by her peers with a higher profile, Kenin has craved a share of the spotlight. When she turned the corner into the press room on Saturday night and saw it packed with reporters, she gasped and smiled as if she had just won again.

“So many of you guys are here — I’m just not used to this,” Kenin said. “It’s my first time, first everything. I’m taking it all in and doing it really well, so thank you guys for coming.”

Christopher Clarey in Melbourne contributed reporting.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/01/sports/tennis/australian-open-sofia-kenin-garbie-muguruza.html?emc=rss&partner=rss