WIMBLEDON – Sofia Kenin reached the third round for the first time at Wimbledon on Thursday. Or as the 2020 Australian Open winner put it: “I’m just trying to prove some people wrong.”
Kenin defeated and assisted Wang Xinyu of China 6-4, 6-3 Victory over Coco Gauff, who was seventh This ended a streak of three consecutive eliminations from Grand Slam tournaments in the first round.
The 24-year-old American finished 128th at Wimbledon and had to qualify to make the main draw – and she’s fine with that.
“If I know every time I’m going to get to the third round of a slam, I’ll play in qualifiers,” said Kenin, who was 4th after her title at Melbourne Park. “Yeah, I definitely feel like that definitely helped me. Grass wasn’t always my favorite surface and I felt like I had some really good solid wins in the qualifiers, even though they were up against tough opponents.
“Obviously looks easy but it was tough and I feel like those games have definitely given me confidence.”
Kenin’s victory on Court 4 wasn’t a work of art – she hit 11 from 17 unforced errors – but she leaped at Wang’s second serve and broke it four times.
Next up, Russian-born Kenin meets Elina Svitolina, a Ukrainian making a comeback of her own. Svitolina is back on tour after giving birth to her first child in October. She defeated five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in the first round.
Kenin, who is struggling with a foot and ankle injury, said she will prepare for “a long, tough game” because Svitolina “gets a lot of balls back from what I remember”.
Svitolina continued her win over Williams, eliminating 28th seed Elise Mertens 6-1, 1-6, 6-1.
The Ukrainian, ranked 76th, remembers Kenin as an aggressive baseline player.
“She loves hitting the ball and dictating at the baseline. I have to react quickly. I have to move my legs very, very well and expect a fast ball,” said Svitolina.
As for proof that people are wrong, Kenin didn’t give anyone specifics.
“It’s just like maybe I didn’t have the best results, but I felt like I started this year pretty well overall and just had to find my way,” she said. “I fought against it. Yeah, I just hope I can keep going.”
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