She’s Back!! Former Slam champ Kenin stuns Gauff at Wimbledon

The long wait for another Grand Slam win is finally over for American Sofia Kenin. The 2020 Australian Open champion has suffered through a litany of injuries over the last two seasons, and dropped outside of the top 400 for a spell, but she has caught fire at Wimbledon, making her way through qualifying to take her place in the first round, where she toppled world No 7 Coco Gauff on Monday at Wimbledon.

Kenin, ranked No 128, will face Chinese Xinyu Wang, after earning her first Grand Slam main draw win since Wimbledon 2021.

What were the keys to her second career victory over Gauff?

“Just play point by point, don’t get over anxious and super excited,” Kenin said. “I just tried to stick to my plan – I was super happy that I got finished before it got dark, because I didn’t really feel like finishing tomorrow, to be honest.”

“I knew: at crucial moments, got to hit to the forehand – I don’t want to hit to the backhand at crucial points.”

Sofia Kenin

The 24-year-old American earned her first top 10 win at a Slam since the 2020 Australian Open semi-finals (Barty) by cracking 22 winners against 18 unforced errors in a spirited tussle on No.1 Court that lasted two hours and three minutes.

Kenin broke serve four times from ten opportunities, including 3-for-3 in the final set, and saved four of six break points.

“This means a lot. I had to go through quallies,” she said. I battled out there and I just took this match as any other match, I knew that Coco is having a great season and a great year, I’m very proud of myself.”

Kenin – I targeted Gauff’s forehand

The tactics were simple for Kenin against the 19-year-old. Play to the forehand on all the big points. She said she directed traffic to Gauff’s weaker wing all day, but changed directions at times just to keep the teenager off balance.

“I knew that was a tactic for me, but she started picking up good shots, hitting the lines,” Kenin said, “so I was like ‘OK, I may have to switch my tactics, hit to the backhand to not let her be too comfortable with the forehand,’ but then I knew: at crucial moments, got to the forehand – I don’t want to hit to the backhand at crucial points.”

Gauff – “I knew she was playing with confidence”

Gauff drops to 13-3 lifetime in first-round matches at Slams, and 1-2 lifetime against Kenin. She said afterwards that she wasn’t surprised at the level of tennis Kenin played at.

“I knew that with three wins under her belt from quallies, I knew she was going to be playing with confidence,” she said. “It’s always possible for somebody to get back to that level. She’s still on the younger end of her career. I think with how she played today, it shouldn’t be too long.”

London (Grand Slam), other first-round results (All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, grass, GBP 2.000.000, most recent results first):

• Mirra Andreeva vs. Xiyu Wang
• Panna Udvardy vs. Aryna Sabalenka
• Anna Bondar vs. Bianca Andreescu
• Yanina Wickmayer vs. Anna Blinkova
• Linda Noskova vs. Dalma Galfi
• Karolina Muchova vs. Jule Niemeier
• Sonay Kartal vs. Madison Keys
• Jaqueline Cristian vs. Lucia Bronzetti
• Beatriz Haddad Maia vs. Yulia Putintseva
• Jessica Bouzas Maneiro vs. Anhelina Kalinina
• Greet Minnen vs. Jelena Ostapenko
• Ons Jabeur vs. Magdalena Frech
• Irina-Camelia Begu vs. Rebecca Marino
• Heather Watson vs. Barbora Krejcikova
• Viktorija Golubic vs. Anna Karolina Schmiedlova
• Alison Riske-Amritraj vs. Paula Badosa
• Shelby Rogers vs. Elena Rybakina
• Varvara Gracheva vs. Camila Giorgi
• Maria Sakkari vs. Marta Kostyuk
• Sorana Cirstea vs. Tatjana Maria
• Jasmine Paolini vs. Petra Kvitova
• Aliaksandra Sasnovich vs. Nuria Parrizas Diaz
• Carol Zhao vs. Tamara Korpatsch
• Karolina Pliskova vs. Natalija Stevanovic
• Nao Hibino vs. Alize Cornet
• Emma Navarro vs. Ekaterina Alexandrova
• Madison Brengle vs. Sara Errani
• Kaja Juvan vs. Margarita Betova
• Anastasia Potapova vs. Celine Naef
• Katie Boulter vs. Daria Saville
• Bernarda Pera vs. Viktoriya Tomova
• Ysaline Bonaventure vs. Zhuoxuan Bai
• Anett Kontaveit vs. Lucrezia Stefanini
• Shuai Zhang vs. Donna Vekic
• Sloane Stephens vs. Rebecca Peterson
• Camila Osorio vs. Elisabetta Cocciaretto
• Danielle Collins vs. Julia Grabher: monday
• Marie Bouzkova vs. Simona Waltert: monday
• Katerina Siniakova beat Qinwen Zheng (24): 6-3, 7-5
• Rebeka Masarova vs. Mayar Sherif: monday
• Elise Mertens (28) beat Viktoria Hruncakova (Q): 7-6 (2), 6-2
• Elina Svitolina (WC) beat Venus Williams (WC): 6-4, 6-3
• Belinda Bencic (14) beat Katie Swan (WC): 7-5, 6-2
• Daria Kasatkina (11) beat Caroline Dolehide: 6-1, 6-4
• Xinyu Wang beat Storm Hunter (Q): 6-3, 6-1
• Jodie Burrage (WC) beat Catherine McNally: 6-1, 6-3
• Marketa Vondrousova beat Peyton Stearns: 6-2, 7-5
• Sara Sorribes Tormo beat Martina Trevisan: 6-3, 6-1
• Magda Linette (23) beat Jil Teichmann: 6-3, 6-2
• Leylah Fernandez beat Kateryna Baindl: 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
• Caroline Garcia (5) beat Katie Volynets: 6-4, 6-3
• Lesia Tsurenko beat Claire Liu: 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
• Iga Swiatek (1) beat Lin Zhu: 6-1, 6-3
• Veronika Kudermetova (12) beat Kaia Kanepi: 7-6 (4), 6-4
• Jessica Pegula (4) beat Lauren Davis: 6-2, 6-7 (8), 6-3
• Victoria Azarenka (19) beat Yue Yuan (Q): 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
• Ana Bogdan beat Liudmila Samsonova (15): 7-6 (1), 7-6 (4)
• Alycia Parks beat Anna-Lena Friedsam: 6-4, 6-3
• Cristina Bucsa beat Kamilla Rakhimova: 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (9)
• Nadia Podoroska beat Tereza Martincova: 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4
• Barbora Strycova beat Maryna Zanevska: 6-1, 7-5
• Petra Martic (30) beat Linda Fruhvirtova: 7-5, 6-7 (5), 4-1 ret.
• Diane Parry beat Harriet Dart (WC): 6-7 (4), 6-0, 6-4

You might also like this

Australian Open, famous at 6, Sonya, Russian-born: Everything you always wanted to know about Sofia Kenin (but never had time to find out) – updated after Tokyo Open 2024

tennis majors

“I’m not the official coach of Coco Gauff” – Mouratoglou

tennis majors

“It’s easier for it to click this year” – Why Iga Swiatek is primed to play her best tennis at Wimbledon

tennis majors