Sofia Kenin Emerges as a Fierce Counterpuncher Against Coco Gauff

Gauff is remarkable even if the perils are clear. She and her family have said that she intends to be the greatest, and that they do not want to limit her horizons or ability to dream big.

The keys will be to avoid getting ahead of themselves, to take delight in the process instead of fixating on distant goals and to keep drawing lines between family life and professional life even with Gauff’s father, Corey, as a coach.

It will not be easy, particularly as the money rolls in, but Gauff and her team appear to be off to a fine start, limiting her interviews and putting the accent on the positive.

“I’m definitely going to savor this and continue to kind of build and get better to work for moments like this, moments like that last match,” she said, referring to her upset of Osaka. “Even today, even though I lost, I still had a lot of fun.”

Gauff has played in three Grand Slam tournaments in singles, reaching the fourth round of Wimbledon, the third round of the United States Open and the fourth round in Melbourne.

She will be ranked just outside the Top 50 next week, but will be allowed to play only one more tour event before turning 16, on March 13. She said that would be at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif. But she is also permitted to play Fed Cup, the women’s team event, and could be selected to play for the United States when it faces Latvia in a World Group qualifying match in Everett, Wash., near Seattle on Feb. 7 and 8.

Kenin would like to be part of that team as well, and said that making the Olympic team was high on her list of goals for 2020. She is fast approaching the Top 10, and if she can defeat Ons Jabeur, 25, a flashy and unseeded shotmaker from Tunisia, in the quarterfinals, she will become the second-ranked American, behind only Serena Williams.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/26/sports/tennis/australian-open-gauff-kenin.html?emc=rss&partner=rss