AMERICAN tennis has a new superstar after Sofia Kenin earned herself a spot in the Australian Open final.
Sofia, 21, dispatched of world number one and hometown favorite Ash Barty on Thursday 7-6 (8-6), 7-5, securing her spot in the final on Saturday against Gabine Muguruza.
Many are now eager to know more about the young superstar, who emigrated to the United States with her parents just a few months after she was born in Moscow.
It was when she was five that Sofia began to take up tennis.
She quickly showed signs of talent and, like Kournikova and Sharapova before her, soon found herself training in Florida.
Sofia, who is often referred to as “Sonya” by family and friends, managed to impress Rick Macci, who has coached Sharapova, Andy Roddick and even the Williams sisters for a brief period of time.
Just like the Williams sisters, Sofia was coached primarily by her father despite his lack of competitive play, and that continues to this day.
Her speed and coordination soon earned her comparisons to one of the greatest junior player of all time, Martina Hingis.
Sofia proved to be a dominant player once she started competing in junior tournaments, and topped the USTA rankings in the 12, 14, 16, and 18-and-under divisions over the years.
Her first appearance in the main draw at a Grand Slam came in 2015, when her USTA junior national championship win earned her a wildcard entry the 2015 US Open.
Sofia lost in the first round that year and the following one as well, but things started to shift in 2017 when she made it through to the round of 32 at the US Open.
She has played in every Grand Slam tournament since then, and improved on the previous year’s performance each time.
It was still a surprise for most to see Sofia make it through to the finals in Australia, especially after she was on the brink of defeat against both Coco and Ash.
Most tennis fans would not have been surprised to hear that an American woman whose name starts with an “S” and ends with an “A” would be playing for the title in Australia.
That would have been Serena Williams however, the greatest of all time. who actually played the up-and-coming American at Roland Garros last May and lost.
That win kicked off a banner year for Sofia, who went on to notch tournament wins over the likes of Naomi Osaka, Barty and Belinda Bencic.
Sofia will now be ranked higher than Serena, a feat no American has achieved in over a decade when Serena has appeared in at least three Grand Slams..
She had never made it past the fourth round of a Grand Slam however, but that all changed this week.
In the past 25 years, only two American women have made it to the finals in Melbourne – Venus and Serena.
Serena has eight appearances and seven wins while Venus has appeared twice and lost in the final to her little sister on each occasion.
Kenin also became the youngest player since 2002 to defeat a number one seed at a Grand Slam with her win over Barty.
The record however still belongs to Serena, who was just 20 when she defeated top-ranked Venus that year Down Under.
Sofia will certainly be ready for her big match on Saturday, having been awarded the WTA Most Improved Player of the Year award after taking home three titles in 2019, which has helped boost her ranking to 15 in the world.
She is guaranteed a spot in the Top 10 when rankings come early next week.
