It’s been three and a half years since Sofia Kenin brought her hands to her face and tears in Melbourne. That night, she had just won the Australian Open at the age of 21, showing the world her fierce will to fight for every point and every shot.
When her hands came down, she wasn’t even smiling, her focus seemingly on maintaining her composure as she was overwhelmed by the moment of her life.
To this day, Kenin says, the contemplation of that victory requires a bit of mental blockade.
“I try not to think about it too much, because I might get a little carried away,” she said Thursday, after her biggest win in more than two years. “I mean, it did, and I definitely think I can get there again.”
For the past two years, that possibility has seemed very remote for Kenin, the Moscow-born American. But in the first week of Wimbledon, she showed some skill and perseverance that once took her to the top of women’s tennis.
On Monday, she beat Coco Gauff in the first round. On Thursday, she defeated Xinyu Wang, 6-4, 6-3, to enter the third round of a major for the first time since reaching the fourth round of the 2021 French Open.
It is still in the early stages of the campaign to regain its relevance. She knows there are skeptics who wonder if she can, and said Thursday she was excited to prove these people wrong.
“I just had to find my way,” she said. “I’ve been fighting. I just hope I can keep going.”
Doing so would mean upsetting Elina Svitolina, the 76th-ranked player on the Tour, in the third round on Friday.
Kenin arrived at Wimbledon ranked 128th in the world and had to win three matches in the qualifying rounds just to get into the main draw. It may be less than some previous Grand Slam champions, but Kenin approached the task with determination, humility and a bit of humour, saying that if she had known that entering the so-called kawaliat would guarantee her advancement to the third round of the main draw, she would have done so regularly.
But there was a time when she expected to receive a high ranking in every tournament she entered. After Kenin won the 2020 Australian Open by defeating Garbiñe Muguruza, her ranking rose to No. 4 in the world, and her future looked very promising.
But the three years that followed turned into a desperate struggle. Among the obstacles that got in her way, Kenin suffered a grade 3 torn ankle. underwent an emergency appendectomy; She publicly broke up with her father and coach, Aleksander Kenin; And they contracted the Corona virus. A year ago, her ranking dropped to No. 426 in the world, and as recently as January she was No. 280.
Kenin met her father in the fall of 2021, eight months after announcing on social media that she had fired him. He was in the audience on Thursday, watching closely as Kenin dismantled Wang in Small Court No. 4, an outer court with a capacity of only a few hundred, under the center court. Kenin has worked with several coaches in recent years, but her dad is back as part of the team, a regular presence again, and Kenin said he’s been part of her recent success.
“I definitely think things click,” she said, “Obviously, with all the practice and doing everything right. I work hard, and he’s been there for me, and I’m really grateful for that.”
On the court, she dominated Wang, using a very effective deft slice on the turf, especially with the taller Wang, who often had difficulty getting low enough to hit the ball and shoot effectively. Kenin also relied on her improved serve and repeatedly placed balls inside the lines on all sides of the court, just as she had done against Gauff.
In both matches and in the qualifying stages, she showed her unquestioned competitive enthusiasm.
“Obviously she won a Grand Slam tournament, but she’s in a tough spot in her career,” Gauff said after the match. “I knew she was going to play with a lot of motivation when she came in.”
Her victory on Thursday marked only the fourth time all year that she has won two games in a row. But she credited the loss with helping her turn her fortunes around this year. At Indian Wells in March, she lost in straight sets to Elena Rybakina, who was then ranked No. 10 but now No. 3 after winning the French Open last month. However, both sets went to a tiebreaker, and Kenin absorbed the experience, turning it into a driving confidence.
Rybakina had reached the final of the Australian Open the previous month, and Kenin used the match to gauge her progress and her ability to hold up with the best.
“I felt like that was a little turning point for me,” she said.
The following week, she won two matches at the Miami Open before losing to Bianca Andreescu and has gone 9-6 since then, including qualifying rounds for Wimbledon.
It still has a long way to go, in terms of order and consistency. But for the first time in two years, she’s back in the fight.
“I knew if I did the work and did the right things, it would click eventually,” she said, “and I’m so glad it clicks here.”
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