By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday July 6, 2023
A near miss against Elena Rybakina at Indian Wells gave Sofia Kenin some of the belief she needed to get her elite game to click once again.
Four months after that 7-6(6), 7-6(5) second-round loss, the former World No.4 is looking ready to make a big splash at SW19.
After her second-round takedown of China’s Wang Xinyu on Day 4, Kenin was asked if there was a moment this season when the 2020 Australian Open champion started to feel like she was ready to compete with top talent again on tour.
“I would say against Elena Rybakina at Indian Wells,” she said. “It was a great match. Of course a little bit heartbreaking because I lost. But she got to the finals of the Australian Open, so I wanted to just see where I am at that point, and I did a great job. “Yeah, I just got some confidence from that match. Like you said, I believed I could always do it, but I felt like that was a little bit of a turning point for me.”
Kenin, mired by injuries (foot, ankle, appendix) for several seasons, and outside of the Top 400 last summer, has put her best foot forward this summer after a season of promising - but not mind blowing – results.
There was a semifinal in Auckland. A trip to the third round in Miami, and a win over World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka on the clay in Rome. But nothing to speak of at the Slams until this week. Into the third round at Wimbledon for the first time, and into the third round at a Slam for the first time since Roland-Garros 2021, things are finally falling in place for the talented 24-year-old.
“Obviously I'm super excited,” she said after her 6-4, 6-3 win over Wang on Court 4. “Just trying to prove some people wrong.
“Yeah, I'm just putting in the hard work and it's paying off.”
Kenin, who will face Elina Svitolina for a spot in the round of 16 on Saturday, says things just needed to click for her. Now that they have the sky could very well be the limit once again.
“I just feel like I had to click. I started off the year pretty good. Then, yeah, I mean, I feel like I needed more matches.
I knew if I put in the work and do the right things, eventually it's going to click, and I'm super happy it's clicking here.”