By Alberto Amalfi | Thursday, May 11, 2023
Sofia Kenin toppled No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka 7-6(4), 6-2 scoring her first Top 10 win in more than three years to reach the Rome round of 32.
Photo credit: Robert Pantling/Getty
Sofia Kenin transformed Rome's red clay into revitalizing route.
Riding her sniper return to damaging effect, Kenin shocked second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 7-6(4), 6-2 in a clash of former and current Australian Open champions to race into the Rome round of 32.
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World No. 134 Kenin scored her first Top 10 win in more than three years.
"I'm super happy," Kenin said in her on-court interview. "It was a really tough match.
"She's playing some great tennis. I'm super proud of myself."
The last time Kenin beat a Top 10 player, she toppled world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty at the 2020 Australian Open before beating Garbine Muguruza to capture her maiden major in Melbourne.
Today, Kenin straddled the baseline and belted back returns down the line that left Sabalenka lunging at air at times.
Kenin won 18 of 26 (70 percent) of points played on Sabalenka's second serve beating the Belarusian for the first time in three meetings.
"I had to bring my best tennis in order to win," Kenin said. "I felt that I served well, returned well.
"I brought my good game, that's why I won."
It was a day where American women shattered the draw upsetting two of the top three seeds.
Earlier, No. 168th-ranked qualifier Taylor Townsend topped third-seeded Jessica Pegula 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in an all-American battle of good friends.
On Saturday night, Sabalenka stopped world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the Madrid final for her second Mutua Madrid Open championship in the last three years.
While Sabalenka's kick serve soared and her groundstrokes roared amid Madrid's slightly higher altitude, nothing came easy for the big-hitting Belarusian adjusting to Rome's slower conditions today.
Crowding the baseline to take second-serve returns on the rise, Kenin broke in the opening game and saved three break points holding for 4-2. Sabalenka broke back to even after eight games and the pair exchanged breaks leading right into the tiebreaker.
A precise Kenin was near-flawless charging out to a 6-1 tiebreaker lead. Kenin converted her fourth set point to seize a one-set lead.
The 2020 Roland Garros runner-up Kenin will play 30th-seeded Anhelina Kalinina for a spot in the round of 16.