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} Sofia Anna "Sonya" Kenin (born November 14, 1998) is an American professional
tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 4 in singles by the WTA, and No. 26 in doubles. Kenin was named the 2020 WTA Player of the Year, an award earned by winning the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
and finishing runner-up at the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
. She has won five singles and four doubles titles on the
WTA Tour The WTA Tour (also known as the Hologic WTA Tour for sponsorship reasons) is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women and organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125 series, and third-tier is the ITF Wome ...
, the latter including the 2019 China Open and 2024 Miami Open partnering
Bethanie Mattek-Sands Bethanie Mattek-Sands ( Bethanie Lynn Mattek; born March 23, 1985) is an American professional tennis player. She has won nine Grand Slam titles (five in women's doubles and four in mixed doubles), and an Olympic gold medal, and is a former w ...
. Coached primarily by her father, Kenin developed into a promising junior player, reaching No. 2 in the world after winning the
Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. Played annually since 1935 Orange Bowl, January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in ...
at the age of 16 and finishing runner-up in the 2015 US Open girls' singles event the following year. She also won the USTA Girls 18s National Championship during that summer. Kenin made her debut in the top 100 of the WTA rankings in 2018 as a teenager. She won her first three titles in 2019 and finished the year just outside the top 10, being named the WTA Most Improved Player of the Year. With her title at the 2020 Australian Open, Kenin became American n.1 and the youngest American to win a
major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...
women's singles title since
Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WT ...
in 1999.


Early life and background

Sofia Kenin was born in
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
, Russia, to Alexander and Svetlana Kenin. Kenin is Jewish, and was born in a Jewish family, and has a younger sister. Her family moved to the United States a few months after she was born. They had previously left the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
to live in New York City in 1987 but returned to Russia for Kenin's birth so that other family members could help raise her initially. Her mother had worked as a nurse in the Soviet Union, and her parents had only $286 when they first moved to the United States. Kenin began playing tennis at the age of five, drawing inspiration from her father who had played recreationally. Her parents recognized her potential and arranged for her to begin training with Rick Macci in
Broward County, Florida Broward County ( ) is a County (United States), county in Florida, United States, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's second-most populous county after Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the List of the most ...
. Macci coached Kenin for seven years until she was 12. He remarked: "Back then hen Kenin was five I came right out and said Sofia was the scariest little creature I’d ever seen. It was unique: the hand-eye coordination and her ability to take the ball immediately right after the bounce. I have a lot of kids do that, but it was almost like it was baked in already, even though she was little and the racket was actually bigger than her. The only player I’ve seen like that is former world No. 1
Martina Hingis Martina Hingis (, ; born 30 September 1980) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 209 weeks ( fifth-most of all time) and as the world No. ...
." Kenin has also worked with
Nick Bollettieri Nicholas James Bollettieri (July 31, 1931 – December 4, 2022) was an American tennis coach. He pioneered the concept of a tennis boarding school, and helped develop many leading tennis players during the past decades, including Andre Agassi, J ...
. Her primary coach had always been her father except from May 2021 to November 2021. Her childhood tennis idols were Serena Williams and
Maria Sharapova Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (, ; born 19 April 1987) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 21 weeks. Sharapova won 36 WTA Tour-level sin ...
. Kenin particularly has praised Sharapova's fierce competitiveness. Kenin had success in tennis at a young age, which garnered widespread attention in the tennis community and helped put her on the covers of tennis magazines. Kenin began playing in
United States Tennis Association The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tenn ...
(USTA) girls' 10-and-under tournaments at the age of seven, and became the top-ranked player in Florida in that division. She later was ranked No. 1 in the USTA national rankings for each of the 12, 14, 16, and 18-and-under divisions. Kenin had the opportunity to interact with ATP and WTA tennis players as a young child, including hitting with
Anna Kournikova Anna Sergeyevna Kournikova Iglesias (née Kournikova; ; ; born 7 June 1981) is a Russian model and television personality, and former professional tennis player. Her appearance and celebrity status made her one of the best known tennis stars ...
at age seven, partnering with
Jim Courier James Spencer Courier (born August 17, 1970) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 58 ...
against
Venus Williams Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American inactive tennis player. She has been ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA for 11 wee ...
and
Todd Martin Todd Martin (born July 8, 1970) is an American retired tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players ea ...
as part of an exhibition event, and receiving a tour of the Miami Open from
Kim Clijsters Kim Antonie Lode Clijsters (; born 8 June 1983) is a Belgian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 20 weeks, and as the world No. 1 in women's double ...
.


Junior career

Kenin reached a career-high of No. 2 in the ITF junior rankings. She began playing in low-level Grade-4 events on the ITF Junior Circuit in 2012 at the age of 13. After winning her first titles in both singles and doubles in 2013, she progressed to the Grade-1 level. Towards the end of the year, she made her Grade-A debut at the
Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. Played annually since 1935 Orange Bowl, January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in ...
, reaching the semifinals in singles and finishing runner-up in doubles with Kaitlyn McCarthy to Tornado Alicia Black and Naiktha Bains. Kenin made her junior Grand Slam debut in 2014, but only recorded one match win in singles while playing in the latter three events of the year. Following the US Open, Kenin represented the United States at the Junior Fed Cup along with CiCi Bellis and Black. The team won the tournament, sweeping Slovakia 3–0 in the final. Kenin went undefeated in her five matches, all in doubles. Her next breakthrough came toward the end of the year when she won the Orange Bowl, defeating Bellis and Ingrid Neel in the last two rounds. Kenin built on that success in 2015 by winning the USTA International Spring Championships, a Grade-1 tournament. During the summer, she won the USTA Girls 18s National Championship as the No. 3 seed, defeating top-seeded Black in the final. With the title, she earned a wild card into the main draw of the 2015 US Open. Kenin also participated in the junior event at the US Open and finished runner-up to
Dalma Gálfi Dalma Rebeka Gálfi (born 13 August 1998) is a Hungarian professional tennis player. On 12 September 2022, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 79. On 19 September 2022, she peaked at No. 126 in the WTA doubles rankings. Gál ...
, her best performance at a junior Grand Slam event. This result helped her rise to No. 2 in the world by the end of the year. Kenin continued to play on the junior tour in 2016 while primarily playing in professional events on the
ITF Women's Circuit The ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, previously known as the ITF Women's Circuit, is a series of professional tennis tournaments run by the International Tennis Federation for female professional tennis players. History It serves as a developmenta ...
. At the US Open, she again produced one of her best results of the year, losing in the semifinals to Viktória Kužmová, after upsetting the top seed Anastasia Potapova in the previous round.


Professional career


2013–17: US Open debut, three ITF titles

Kenin began playing low-level tournaments on the
ITF Women's Circuit The ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, previously known as the ITF Women's Circuit, is a series of professional tennis tournaments run by the International Tennis Federation for female professional tennis players. History It serves as a developmenta ...
in 2013 and won her first two professional matches at the age of 14. With her wild card from winning the USTA Junior National Championship, she made her Grand Slam debut at the 2015 US Open, losing her opening match to Mariana Duque Mariño. The following year, Kenin won her first two ITF titles, the first at a $25k event in Wesley Chapel in Florida and the second at a $50k Sacramento Challenger in California. The latter title helped her win the US Open Wild Card Challenge to earn a wild card into the main draw of the US Open for the second time. At the US Open, she lost her first-round match to
Karolína Plíšková Karolína Plíšková (; born 21 March 1992) is a Czech professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), holding the position for a total of eight weeks, and has been ...
, her only tour-level match of the year. After beginning the 2017 season ranked outside the top 200, Kenin steadily rose up the WTA rankings throughout the year while playing exclusively on the professional circuit. She progressed into the top 150 in August after a string of good results during the summer, including winning the $60k
Stockton Challenger The Stockton Challenger is a professional tennis tournament played on hardcourt, hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP Challenger Tour and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) ITF Women's Circuit, Women's Circuit. It has been held ann ...
and finishing runner-up at the $60k Lexington Challenger. These ITF performances helped her win the US Open Wild Card Challenge for the second straight year. At the 2017 US Open, Kenin advanced beyond the first round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, defeating compatriots
Lauren Davis Lauren Davis (born October 9, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. Known for her aggressive backhand, speed, and clay-court strength, she has won two singles titles on the WTA Tour and reached a career-high singles WTA rankings, ran ...
and
Sachia Vickery Sachia Vickery ( ; born May 11, 1995) is an American professional tennis player. She reached a career-high of No. 73 in the WTA rankings on 30 July 2018. Vickery, a former USTA junior national champion, has also won three singles and three doub ...
, before losing to the 2006 champion
Maria Sharapova Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (, ; born 19 April 1987) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 21 weeks. Sharapova won 36 WTA Tour-level sin ...
in the third round. These were also her first two match wins on the WTA Tour. Kenin's success at the US Open helped convince her to turn professional in September, foregoing a scholarship to attend the
University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...
. She finished the year ranked No. 108 in the world.


2018: Top 50, first top-10 victory

With her improved ranking, Kenin was able to play primarily on the WTA Tour in 2018. She began the year by reaching her first WTA quarterfinal at the Auckland Open. After losing her first-round match at the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, Kenin produced good results at both Premier Mandatory events in March. She entered the top 100 by reaching the second round of the Indian Wells Open as a qualifier. She then qualified for the Miami Open, where she upset No. 11
Daria Kasatkina Daria Sergeyevna Kasatkina (born 7 May 1997) is a Russian-born Australian professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 8 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA, achieved in October 2022. Kasatkina ha ...
and reached the third round. After losing all five of her WTA Tour matches on clay across main draws and qualifying, Kenin reached her first WTA semifinal at the Mallorca Open on grass. She defeated top seed and world No. 6,
Caroline Garcia Caroline Garcia (, born 16 October 1993) is a French professional tennis player. She had a career-high WTA rankings, ranking of world No. 4 in singles and world No. 2 in doubles. Garcia was the 2022 WTA Finals – Singles, 2022 WTA Finals champi ...
, for her first career top-ten victory before losing to
Tatjana Maria Tatjana Maria (née Malek; born 8 August 1987) is a German professional tennis player. In January 2024 she reached her career-best singles ranking of world No. 42, and in June 2016, she peaked at No. 54 in the doubles rankings. She has won four ...
. Kenin closed out the grass-court season with a second-round appearance at
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
, winning her debut at the event against
Maria Sakkari Maria Sakkari (, ; born 25 July 1995) is a Greek professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 3 by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA, which she first achieved on 21 March 2022, making her the highest-ranked Greek player ...
. Back in the United States, Kenin won another $60k title at the Berkeley Club Challenge. She reached the third round of the US Open for the second consecutive year, losing to Plíšková at the event for the second time. Kenin's best performance during the rest of the season came at the
Tournoi de Québec The was a WTA Tour International level tennis tournament held in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Held from 1993 to 2018, the tournament was the last women's professional tennis tournament still played on indoor carpet courts. It was held at the PE ...
, where she reached another semifinal. She defeated world No. 10,
Julia Görges Julia Görges (born 2 November 1988) is a German former professional tennis player. A former top-ten singles player, she was ranked as high as No. 9 in the world on 20 August 2018, and was ranked inside the top 15 in doubles, peaking at world No ...
, at the
Wuhan Open The Wuhan Open (currently sponsored by Dongfeng Voyah) is a WTA 1000 tennis tournament held in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China and organized for female professional tennis players. It is one of the WTA 1000 tournaments on the WTA Tour and made its ...
for her second top-ten victory of the year. So she advanced into the top 50 for the first time.


2019: Three WTA titles, world No. 12

Kenin greatly improved in 2019, rising from outside the top 50 at the start of the year to just outside the top ten by the end of the season. She began her year by winning her first WTA doubles title at the Auckland Open with
Eugenie Bouchard Eugenie "Genie" Bouchard (; , ; born February 25, 1994) is a Canadian professional tennis and pickleball player. At the 2014 Wimbledon Championships – Women's singles, 2014 Wimbledon Championships, she became the first Canadian-born player repr ...
. The following week, she won her first WTA singles title at the Hobart International without dropping a set during the event. She upset the top seed and No. 19 Caroline Garcia in the first round, before defeating Anna Karolína Schmiedlová in the final. With this success, Kenin rose to what was at the time a career-best ranking of No. 37. At the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, she pushed world No. 1
Simona Halep Simona Halep (; born 27 September 1991) is a Romanian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 64 w ...
to three sets in the second round, ultimately losing in a long two-hour-and-thirty-minute match. The following month, Kenin reached another WTA final at the Mexican Open, finishing runner-up to
Wang Yafan Wang Yafan (; ; born 30 April 1994) is a Chinese professional tennis player. On 7 October 2019, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 47. She peaked at No. 49 in the doubles rankings on 15 February 2016. In her career, she has won ...
despite being up a set and a break. During the clay-court season, Kenin improved on her results from the previous year. She reached the third round at the Italian Open, defeating compatriot
Madison Keys Madison Keys (born February 17, 1995) is an American professional tennis player. She has been WTA rankings, ranked as high as world No. 5 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA. Keys has won ten WTA Tour-level career singles ...
before losing to Plíšková. Her best result on clay came at the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, where she reached the fourth round. During the event, she upset world No. 10,
Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WT ...
, in the third round before losing to eventual champion
Ashleigh Barty Ashleigh Jacinta Barty (born 24 April 1996) is an Australian former professional tennis player and cricketer. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Assoc ...
. In the grass-court season, Kenin won her second WTA singles title of the year at the Mallorca Open. She defeated three top-25 players in the final three rounds, all in three sets. She saved three championship points in the second set of the final against No. 13
Belinda Bencic Belinda Bencic (; born 10 March 1997) is a Swiss professional tennis player. She has a career-high WTA rankings, ranking of world No. 4 which she achieved in February 2020. Bencic has won nine career singles titles, including Tennis at the 2020 ...
, before coming from behind to win the match. Although she was seeded for the first time at a major at No. 27, she lost in the second round of
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
to
Dayana Yastremska Dayana Oleksandrivna Yastremska (; born 15 May 2000) is a Ukrainian professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 21 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA, and No. 82 in doubles, both achieved in January 2020. ...
. Kenin's best results of the
US Open Series The US Open Series was the name given by the United States Tennis Association (USTA) to a series of North American professional tennis tournaments leading up to and including the US Open. It was part of the "North American hard-court season". ...
came at the two Premier 5 tournaments, where she reached the semifinals at both the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Open, losing to the eventual champions at each but defeating the current world No. 1 players, Ashleigh Barty and
Naomi Osaka is a Japanese professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA for 25 weeks, the first Asian player to hold the ...
, at each event, her first two victories over top-ranked players. She also became the first player to defeat the world No. 1 in back-to-back weeks since
Lindsay Davenport Lindsay Ann Davenport Leach (born June 8, 1976) is an American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 98 weeks (including as the year-end No. 1 four ...
had done so in 2001. Following these tournaments, Kenin again lost to Keys in the third round of the US Open. During the Asian hardcourt swing, Kenin won one additional title in both singles and doubles. She won her third singles title of the year at the Guangzhou International Open, defeating
Samantha Stosur Samantha Jane Stosur (born 30 March 1984) is an Australian former professional tennis player. She is a former List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles, a ranking which she first achieved on 6 February 2006 and ...
in the final. Two weeks later, she partnered with
Bethanie Mattek-Sands Bethanie Mattek-Sands ( Bethanie Lynn Mattek; born March 23, 1985) is an American professional tennis player. She has won nine Grand Slam titles (five in women's doubles and four in mixed doubles), and an Olympic gold medal, and is a former w ...
to win her second doubles title of the year at the China Open, a Premier Mandatory event. There, the pair defeated the team of
Aryna Sabalenka Aryna Siarhiejeŭna Sabalenka (born 5 May 1998) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. She is currently ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), and is a former world No. 1 in women's doubles. ...
and
Elise Mertens Elise Mertens (; born 17 November 1995) is a Belgian professional tennis player. She became List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles on 10 May 2021, the third Belgian to hold the top ranking in either singles or ...
, who were ranked No. 2 and No. 3 in the world, respectively, at the time. This title brought her to No. 43 in the doubles rankings. At the end of the season, Kenin qualified for the WTA Elite Trophy as the second seed, ranked No. 12 in the world. She won her opening match against compatriot
Alison Riske Alison Riske-Amritraj (née Riske; born July 3, 1990) is an inactive American tennis player. She reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 in November 2019 and won her first WTA Tour title in October 2014, at the Tianjin Open. S ...
, but lost to
Karolína Muchová Karolína Muchová (; born 21 August 1996) is a Czech professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles WTA rankings, ranking of world No. 8, achieved on 11 September 2023. Muchová has won one WTA Tour title at the 2019 Korea Open – S ...
and did not advance out of her round-robin group. Kenin was also named the second alternate at the WTA Finals, behind
Kiki Bertens Kiki Bertens (; born 10 December 1991) is a Dutch former professional tennis player. Her career-high WTA rankings#Current rankings, singles ranking was world No. 4, which she reached on 13 May 2019, becoming the highest-ranked Dutch female playe ...
. After Naomi Osaka and
Bianca Andreescu Bianca Vanessa Andreescu (; born June 16, 2000) is a Canadian professional tennis player. She has been WTA rankings, ranked world No. 4 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA. Andreescu has won two singles titles on the WTA T ...
both withdrew, she had the opportunity to play one match, losing to defending champion
Elina Svitolina Elina Mykhailivna Svitolina (, ; born 12 September 1994) is a Ukrainian professional tennis player. She reached career-high rankings of world No. 3 in singles and No. 108 in doubles by the WTA rankings, WTA. Svitolina has won 18 WTA Tour single ...
. She finished the year ranked No. 14 in singles and No. 39 in doubles. Kenin also received the WTA award Most Improved Player of the Year for her breakthrough season, becoming the first American player to win the award since Serena Williams in 1999.


2020: Australian Open champion, world No. 4

Kenin carried her success at the lower-level tournaments in 2019 to the Grand Slam tournaments in 2020. Despite two second-round losses to start the year, Kenin won the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
for her first Grand Slam singles title. She only dropped one set before the final – in the fourth round against compatriot Coco Gauff. In the semifinal, she upset world No. 1 and home favorite Ash Barty. She then defeated
Garbiñe Muguruza Garbiñe Muguruza Blanco (; born 8 October 1993) is a Venezuelan-born Spanish former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Asso ...
in the final, coming from a set down. With the victory at just 21 years old, she became the youngest American woman to win a major singles title since Serena Williams won
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
in 2002. Serena won the US Open in 1999 at 17 years old. She also became the youngest American to make her top-ten debut in the WTA rankings since Williams in 1999, rising to No. 7 in the world. Kenin won another title at the inaugural
Lyon Open Lyon Open may refer to: *ATP Lyon Open, a men's professional tennis tournament *WTA Lyon Open, a women's professional tennis tournament {{disambiguation ...
, where she saved a match point in the second round and overcame a set and 5–2 deficit in the following round as part of a stretch of four consecutive three-set matches. She defeated Anna-Lena Friedsam in the final. This was Kenin's last event before the WTA Tour shut down for six months because of the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. At this point, she was No. 4 in the world, her career-best ranking at the time. When the tour resumed, Kenin was seeded second at the US Open as Barty and Halep had withdrawn because of the pandemic. Although she lost in the fourth round to
Elise Mertens Elise Mertens (; born 17 November 1995) is a Belgian professional tennis player. She became List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles on 10 May 2021, the third Belgian to hold the top ranking in either singles or ...
, this was her best result at the event to date. Following the tournament, Kenin traveled to Europe for the rescheduled clay-court season. Although she lost her only tune-up match to US Open runner-up
Victoria Azarenka Victoria Fiodaraŭna Azarenka (born 31 July 1989) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), having held the position for a total of 51 weeks ...
without winning a game, Kenin continued her Grand Slam tournament success at the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
. She won four three-set matches during the first five rounds before defeating No. 11,
Petra Kvitová Petra Kvitová (; born 8 March 1990) is a Czech professional tennis player. Known for her powerful left-handed groundstrokes and variety, Kvitová has won 31 career singles titles, including two Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major titles ...
, in the semifinals. She lost the final in straight sets to
Iga Świątek Iga Natalia Świątek (; born 31 May 2001) is a Polish professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women’s singles by the Women's Tennis Association, Women’s Tenn ...
. At the end of the season, Kenin was awarded the WTA Player of the Year. Outside of the WTA Tour, Kenin has participated in
World TeamTennis World TeamTennis (WTT) was a mixed-gender professional tennis league played with a team format in the United States, which was founded in 1973. The league's season normally took place in the summer months. Players from the ATP and WTA would ...
. She led the Philadelphia Freedoms to a first-place regular-season finish in 2020 with a 10–4 record in singles. Although she defeated CoCo Vandeweghe in the semifinals, her team lost to the eventual champions New York Empire.


2021: Struggles with form

Kenin's first tournament of the year was at
Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...
, where she was the top seed. She defeated
Yang Zhaoxuan Yang Zhaoxuan (; ; born 11 February 1995) is a Chinese tennis player. She reached her best WTA doubles ranking of world No. 9 on 30 January 2023. Yang has won seven doubles titles on the WTA Tour and one WTA Challenger doubles title. In Sept ...
in the first round, and was the beneficiary of a retirement by
Kirsten Flipkens Kirsten "Flipper" Flipkens (; born 10 January 1986) is a Belgian tennis coach and a former professional player. She reached a career-high ranking of No. 13 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Flipkens has won one singles title on the WTA T ...
in the second round. In the third round, Kenin saved a match point against
Yulia Putintseva Yulia Antonovna Putintseva (, ; born 7 January 1995) is a Russian-born Kazakhstani professional tennis player. She achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 20 on 27 January 2025 and a doubles ranking of No. 76 on 17 March 2025. Puti ...
to progress to the quarterfinals, where she faced Maria Sakkari. After winning the first set 6–2, and with the score in the second set 2–2, Kenin lost ten games in a row, ending her run at Abu Dhabi. Her next tournament was the Yarra Valley Classic in Melbourne, where she defeated
Camila Giorgi Camila Giorgi (; born 30 December 1991) is an Italian former professional tennis player. She had a career-high singles WTA rankings, ranking of world No. 26, which was achieved on 22 October 2018. Giorgi was known for her aggressive style of pla ...
and Jessica Pegula to reach the quarterfinals. She met Garbiñe Muguruza in a rematch of the Australian Open final, but Kenin won just four games. At the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, Kenin was the defending champion and fourth seed. She defeated Australian wild card player
Maddison Inglis Maddison Inglis (born 14 January 1998) is an Australian tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 112, achieved on 2 March 2020. Inglis has won nine titles in singles and eight in doubles on the ITF Women's Circuit. Car ...
in the first round but was upset by the unseeded Kaia Kanepi in the second, in straight sets. Kenin's loss was the earliest for a defending champion at the Australian Open since
Jennifer Capriati Jennifer Maria Capriati (born March 29, 1976) is an American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 17 weeks. Capriati won 14 WTA Tour-level singles t ...
lost in the first round in
2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...
. After the match, Kenin tearfully admitted that the pressure of defending her title was overwhelming, saying: "I feel like everyone was always asking me: 'Would you want to? Do you see yourself getting o Melbourneand winning again?' Obviously I said yes. With the way I’m playing, no." She then received a wild card for the Phillip Island Trophy, a tournament for players who suffered an early exit at the Australian Open, where she was the top seed and in receipt of a first-round bye. In the second round, Kenin was upset by the unranked Australian wild card Olivia Gadecki in three sets. Losing to Gadecki, whose career-high ranking was No. 988, marked Kenin's worst defeat by ranking on the WTA Tour. With her disappointing results throughout the Australian summer, her ranking would have fallen to No. 13 in the world, but because of changes to the system introduced as a result of the pandemic, this did not occur. Withdrawing from numerous tournaments after suffering from
appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the Appendix (anatomy), appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and anorexia (symptom), decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these t ...
, Kenin made her return at
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
, where, with a first-round bye, she defeated
Andrea Petkovic Andrea Petkovic (, ; born 9 September 1987) is a German former professional tennis player. Born in Tuzla, SFR Yugoslavia, to Serbian father Zoran and Bosniak mother Amira, she moved to Germany at six months old and turned professional in 2006 ...
before falling to
Ons Jabeur Ons Jabeur (born 28 August 1994) is a Tunisian professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking by the WTA of No. 2, achieved on 27 June 2022, making her the highest-ranked African and Arab tennis player in WTA and ATP ranking ...
in three sets. At Charleston, she lost in her first match against
Lauren Davis Lauren Davis (born October 9, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. Known for her aggressive backhand, speed, and clay-court strength, she has won two singles titles on the WTA Tour and reached a career-high singles WTA rankings, ran ...
. She suffered a second-round defeat at
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
to
Anett Kontaveit Anett Kontaveit (; born 24 December 1995) is an Estonian former professional tennis player. She was WTA rankings, ranked as high as world No. 2 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), which she first achieved on 6 June 2022 to become the highes ...
, and lost her first match at
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
to
Barbora Krejčíková Barbora Krejčíková (; born 18 December 1995) is a Czech professional tennis player. She has been WTA rankings, ranked as high as world No. 2 in singles and List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles by the Wome ...
. At the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, she reached the fourth round, defeating
Jeļena Ostapenko Jeļena "Aļona" Ostapenko (born 8 June 1997) is a Latvian professional tennis player. She has career-high rankings of world No. 5 in singles and No. 4 in doubles by the WTA. Ostapenko has won nine WTA Tour-level singles and eleven doubles tit ...
, Hailey Baptiste and Jessica Pegula, before falling to Maria Sakkari. In May 2021, Kenin announced that she was parting ways with her father as coach. Because of an injury, she did not participate in any warmup events before
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
. At Wimbledon, she defeated Wang Xinyu in the first round before losing to Madison Brengle in the second round. In the loss, Kenin set a new Wimbledon record by committing 41 unforced errors in just 45 minutes. On 9 November 2021, Kenin announced that her father had returned to her coaching team as she prepared for the 2022 Australian Open. She finished the year ranked No. 12 in singles.


2022: Injury and hiatus, out of top 200

Seeded 11th at the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, Kenin faced and lost to Madison Keys, in straight sets in the first round. Because she was defending the maximum points she earned from winning the tournament in 2020 rather than the 70 points she earned from losing in the second round in 2021 (due to the WTA rankings freeze along with the COVID-19 pandemic), her world ranking plummeted to No. 95 when updated following the conclusion of the tournament on 31 January 2022. Kenin made her way to the quarterfinals of Adelaide 1 where she lost to the top-seeded Ashleigh Barty in straight sets, marking her first quarterfinal appearance since Melbourne 2021. Despite her run in Adelaide, Kenin lost five consecutive first-round matches with four of those five losses coming in straight sets. She injured herself and pulled out of all the tournaments in March, April and May after the Indian Wells Open including the two majors, the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
and
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
. As a result, her ranking dropped outside the top 300. She finished the year ranked No. 235.


2023: WTA 1000 semifinal, top 30

Kenin began her season at the Auckland Open, beating Wang Xinyu in the first round before losing to top seed and eventual champion Coco Gauff. She next reached her first tour-level semifinal since the 2020 French Open at the Hobart International. She lost to Elisabetta Cocciaretto in three sets. At the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, she lost in the first round to Victoria Azarenka in a match lasting more than two hours. She also lost in the first round of the 2023 Linz Open to Jule Niemeier. She recorded her first top-20 win, again since the 2020 French Open by defeating world No. 15,
Liudmila Samsonova Liudmila Dmitrievna Samsonova ( rus, Людмила Дмитриевна Самсонова, , lʲʊdˈmʲiɫə sɐmˈsonəvə; born 11 November 1998) is a Russian professional tennis player. She has career-high WTA rankings of No. 12 in singles ...
, at the Qatar Ladies Open, in straight sets. She then lost to
Veronika Kudermetova Veronika Eduardovna Kudermetova (born 24 April 1997) is a Russian professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 9, achieved on 24 October 2022, and a best WTA doubles ranking of No. 2, reached on 6 June 2022. In ...
in the second round, and in the first round at
Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
to Marie Bouzková. She reached the second round at Indian Wells, after defeating
Sloane Stephens Sloane Stephens (born March 20, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. She has achieved a career-best ranking of world No. 3 by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA. Stephens has won eight WTA Tour-level singles titles, including the 2 ...
in the first, before losing to eventual champion
Elena Rybakina Elena Andreyevna Rybakina (born 17 June 1999) is a Russian-born Kazakhstani professional tennis player. She has been WTA rankings, ranked world No. 3 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA, making her the first Kazakhstani ...
in two close sets. At the Miami Open she went one step further, defeating Storm Hunter and 28th seed
Anhelina Kalinina Anhelina Serhiyivna Kalinina ( ; born 7 February 1997) is a Ukrainian professional tennis player. On 22 May 2023, she reached her career-high WTA singles ranking of No. 25. She peaked at No. 92 in the doubles rankings in January 2025. She has ...
to reach the third round. She then lost to
Bianca Andreescu Bianca Vanessa Andreescu (; born June 16, 2000) is a Canadian professional tennis player. She has been WTA rankings, ranked world No. 4 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA. Andreescu has won two singles titles on the WTA T ...
. As a result, she moved back into the top 150 on 3 April 2023. Kenin defeated
Aliaksandra Sasnovich Aliaksandra Aliaksandraŭna Sasnovich (born 22 March 1994) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. She achieved her best singles ranking of world No. 29 on 19 September 2022, and peaked at No. 39 in the WTA doubles rankings on 23 August 2021 ...
in Charleston to open her clay-court season, before losing to
Irina-Camelia Begu Irina-Camelia Begu (born 26 August 1990) is a Romanian tennis player. She reached a career-high WTA ranking, WTA singles ranking of world No. 22 , in August 2016. Two years later, she reached her highest ranking in doubles, also No. 22. She is ...
. She was defeated by
Maryna Zanevska Maryna Volodymyrivna Zanevska (; born 24 August 1993) is a Ukrainian-born Belgian former professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 62, achieved on 23 May 2022, and a WTA doubles ranking of 86, reached on 16 ...
in the first round of the Madrid Open. At the Italian Open, Kenin defeated Cristina Bucșa in the opening round. She then recorded one of the biggest wins of her career by defeating world No. 2 and reigning Madrid champion, Aryna Sabalenka, in straight sets in the second round. This was her first top-5 win since defeating world No. 1, Ashleigh Barty, at the 2020 Australian Open during her run to the title. She went through three qualifying rounds to make the main draw at the
Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon, is a tennis tournament organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association annually in Wimbledon, London. It is chronologically the ...
. In the first round, she defeated seventh seed Coco Gauff. She lost in the third round to eventual semifinalist
Elina Svitolina Elina Mykhailivna Svitolina (, ; born 12 September 1994) is a Ukrainian professional tennis player. She reached career-high rankings of world No. 3 in singles and No. 108 in doubles by the WTA rankings, WTA. Svitolina has won 18 WTA Tour single ...
. Following reaching her first singles final since 2020 at the San Diego Open as a wildcard where she lost to fourth seed Barbora Krejčíková, she moved 40 positions up close to the top 50. At the Guadalajara Open, she reached her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal since 2019, defeating sixth seed Jeļena Ostapenko. Next, she defeated Leylah Fernandez to reach the semifinal, only her third in her career at a WTA 1000 level. She lost to world No. 111, Caroline Dolehide, in straight sets. As a result, she moved more than 20 positions up to world No. 31 on 25 September 2023. Following the China Open, she returned to the top 30 on 9 October 2023.


2024: Miami doubles champion, back to top 100 in singles

Kenin lost her first match of the season at the
Brisbane International The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on Tennis court#Hard courts, outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA 500 tournaments, WTA 500 tournament and an ATP World T ...
to
Arina Rodionova Arina Ivanovna Rodionova (; born 15 December 1989) is a Russian-born Australian professional tennis player. On 5 February 2024, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 97. On 27 July 2015, she peaked at No. 41 in the doubles ra ...
where she was the 14th seed. She then beat Greet Minnen, before losing to home favorite Daria Saville in the next round at the Hobart International. At the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, Kenin lost in the first round to top seed
Iga Świątek Iga Natalia Świątek (; born 31 May 2001) is a Polish professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women’s singles by the Women's Tennis Association, Women’s Tenn ...
. Partnering with Bethanie Mattek Sands she won the Abu Dhabi Open, overcoming Linda Nosková and
Heather Watson Heather Miriam Watson (born 19 May 1992) is a British professional tennis player. A former British No. 1, Watson has won nine titles over her career, including the mixed-doubles title at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships – Mixed doubles, 2016 ...
in the final. Entering as alternates, the pair won the Miami Open, defeating second seeds
Gabriela Dabrowski Gabriela "Gaby" Dabrowski (; , ; born April 1, 1992) is a Canadian professional tennis player. She reached her career-high doubles ranking of world No. 3 on 15 July 2024. A three-time Grand Slam champion, she won the 2023 US Open doubles title, ...
and
Erin Routliffe Erin Hope Routliffe (born 11 April 1995) is a New Zealand professional tennis player who previously represented Canada. She became world No. 1 in doubles on 15 July 2024. Routliffe won a major doubles title at the 2023 US Open partnering Gabri ...
. As a result, she returned to the top 50 in the doubles rankings, on 1 April 2024. Kenin won her first tour-level singles match since January at the Italian Open, defeating Lucia Bronzetti in straight sets. During the match Kenin disagreed with the chair umpire and tournament supervisor's decision to keep players on court during rain, in response to the decision and boos from the crowd Kenin shouted expletives in both English and Russian, receiving an audible obscenity warning, before breaking Bronzetti to get the match back on serve. The match was suspended for rain immediately after. In the following round Kenin upset eighth seed
Ons Jabeur Ons Jabeur (born 28 August 1994) is a Tunisian professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking by the WTA of No. 2, achieved on 27 June 2022, making her the highest-ranked African and Arab tennis player in WTA and ATP ranking ...
for her first top 10 win of the season. Kenin would lose the next round to qualifier
Rebecca Šramková Rebecca Šramková (; born 19 October 1996) is a Slovak professional tennis player. She has a career-high WTA rankings, singles ranking of world No. 36, achieved on 31 March 2025, and a best doubles ranking of No. 209, reached on 9 June 2025. Sh ...
, in three sets. At the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, playing for the first time since 2021, she won her opening match in three sets over
Laura Siegemund Laura Natalie Siegemund (born 4 March 1988) is a German professional tennis player. Siegemund reached her career-high doubles ranking of world No. 4 on 29 January 2024 and has won fourteen doubles titles on the WTA Tour. She is a three-time Gran ...
. Kenin then advanced to the third round with a victory over 21st seed and French No. 1 player,
Caroline Garcia Caroline Garcia (, born 16 October 1993) is a French professional tennis player. She had a career-high WTA rankings, ranking of world No. 4 in singles and world No. 2 in doubles. Garcia was the 2022 WTA Finals – Singles, 2022 WTA Finals champi ...
. In the third round, she lost to
Clara Tauson Clara Tauson (born 21 December 2002) is a Danish professional tennis player. Her career-high rankings are world No. 21 in singles, achieved on 3 March 2025 and No. 124 in doubles, on 16 June same year. Tauson has won three WTA Tour titles, all o ...
in straight sets. At the beginning of her grass court season at the WTA 500
Eastbourne International The Eastbourne Open (also known as Eastbourne International, formerly Rothesay) is a tennis tournament on the WTA Tour and the ATP Tour held at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club, Eastbourne, United Kingdom. Held since 1974, it is classified as ...
, she entered the main draw as a lucky loser replacing top seed Elena Rybakina, directly into the second round where she lost to
Harriet Dart Harriet Dart (born 28 July 1996) is a British professional tennis player. She achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 70 and a career-high doubles ranking of No. 59, on 14 October 2024. She reached the final of the 2021 Wimbledon Ch ...
in three sets. At
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
, Kenin went out in the first round to world No. 1, Iga Świątek. Kenin made it into the second round at the US Open by defeating Emma Raducanu but then lost to sixth seed Jessica Pegula. In October, at the
Pan Pacific Open The Pan Pacific Open, currently sponsored by Toray Industries, is a women's outdoor hardcourt tennis tournament held annually in Tokyo, Japan. It is a WTA 500-level tournament. History The tournament was first held in 1973 as the Toray Sillook Ch ...
, she entered as a wildcard and reached her first singles semifinal in more than a year (since 2023 in Guadalajara) and then the final with wins over 10th seed Wang Xinyu, lucky loser
Clara Tauson Clara Tauson (born 21 December 2002) is a Danish professional tennis player. Her career-high rankings are world No. 21 in singles, achieved on 3 March 2025 and No. 124 in doubles, on 16 June same year. Tauson has won three WTA Tour titles, all o ...
, third seed
Daria Kasatkina Daria Sergeyevna Kasatkina (born 7 May 1997) is a Russian-born Australian professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 8 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA, achieved in October 2022. Kasatkina ha ...
and ninth seed
Katie Boulter Katie Charlotte Boulter (born 1 August 1996) is an English professional tennis player. On 4 November 2024, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 23. On 6 January 2025, she peaked at No. 277 in the WTA doubles rankings. Boulter has ...
. As a result she returned to the top 100 on 28 October 2024 raising close to 70 positions up in the singles rankings, having been ranked No. 155 in the beginning of the tournament. Kenin lost the final to top seed
Zheng Qinwen Zheng Qinwen ( zh, , p=Zhèng Qīnwén, s=郑钦文; IPA: ; born 8 October 2002) is a Chinese professional tennis player. She has been ranked world No. 4 in women's singles by the WTA, achieved in June 2025, and is only the second Chinese pla ...
in straight sets. At the next and last Asian swing tournament of the season, the 2024 Hong Kong Tennis Open, Kenin reached back-to-back quarterfinals defeating Jessika Ponchet, having received a wildcard into the main singles draw.


2025: Hobart quarterfinal, Charleston final

Kenin reached the quarterfinals at the Hobart International with wins over fifth seed Lulu Sun and
Anna Blinkova Anna Vladimirovna Blinkova ( rus, Анна Владимировна Блинкова, , ˈanːə blʲɪnˈkovə, Ru-Anna Blinkova.ogg; born 10 September 1998) is a Russian professional tennis player. On 7 August 2023, she reached her best single ...
, before losing to wildcard entrant Maya Joint. At the
2025 Australian Open The 2025 Australian Open was a Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam level tennis tournament held at Melbourne Park from 12 to 26 January 2025. It was the 113th edition of the Australian Open, the 57th in the Open Era, and the first Grand Slam (tenn ...
, Kenin lost to third seed Coco Gauff in straight sets. At the
Charleston Open The Charleston Open, currently sponsored by Credit One, is a WTA Tour-affiliated professional tennis tournament for women, held every year since 1973. It is the oldest professional all-women's tournament in America with a $1,064,510 purse. The t ...
, Kenin reached the quarterfinals defeating fifth seed
Daria Kasatkina Daria Sergeyevna Kasatkina (born 7 May 1997) is a Russian-born Australian professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 8 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA, achieved in October 2022. Kasatkina ha ...
. Next she defeated 14th seed
Anna Kalinskaya Anna Nikolayevna Kalinskaya ( rus, Анна Николаевна Калинская, , ˈanːə kɐˈlʲinskəjə, Ru-Anna_Kalinskaya.ogg; born 2 December 1998) is a Russian professional tennis player. She reached career-high rankings of world ...
in straight sets to reach the semifinals. She reached her first clay final in five years defeating
Amanda Anisimova Amanda Kay Victoria Anisimova ( ; ; born August 31, 2001) is an American professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles WTA rankings, WTA ranking of world No. 13, achieved on 16 June 2025. Anisimova has won three WTA Tour titles, inc ...
after her retirement. Kenin lost the final to Jessica Pegula.


National representation

After winning the Junior Fed Cup in 2014, Kenin was nominated for her first senior
Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...
tie in the
2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
final against the
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
. Both teams were missing their best players, with the Williams sisters,
Sloane Stephens Sloane Stephens (born March 20, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. She has achieved a career-best ranking of world No. 3 by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA. Stephens has won eight WTA Tour-level singles titles, including the 2 ...
, and Madison Keys for the United States, as well as Plíšková and
Petra Kvitová Petra Kvitová (; born 8 March 1990) is a Czech professional tennis player. Known for her powerful left-handed groundstrokes and variety, Kvitová has won 31 career singles titles, including two Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major titles ...
for the Czech Republic all unavailable. Kenin and
Alison Riske Alison Riske-Amritraj (née Riske; born July 3, 1990) is an inactive American tennis player. She reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 in November 2019 and won her first WTA Tour title in October 2014, at the Tianjin Open. S ...
were selected to play singles against
Barbora Strýcová Barbora Strýcová (; born 28 March 1986), formerly known as Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová, is a Czech former professional tennis player who was ranked List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles. She won two Gra ...
and
Kateřina Siniaková Kateřina Siniaková (; born 10 May 1996) is a Czech professional tennis player. She is the current List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles. She also has a best singles WTA rankings, ranking of No. 27 by the W ...
. Kenin lost both of her singles matches in three sets, as the Czech Republic swept the tie 3–0 to win the Fed Cup. The decisive third rubber between Kenin and Siniaková was particularly close. The match lasted 3 hours and 45 minutes, and ended with Siniaková needing to save two match points on Kenin's serve in the third set before coming from behind to win. Kenin represented the United States again in
2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
. In the first round against
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, she lost her only match to Ashleigh Barty who won both of her singles rubbers as well as the decisive doubles rubber to lead Australia to a 3–2 victory. The United States' next tie was against
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
as part of the World Group play-offs. After Keys lost the first match and Stephens won both of her singles rubbers, Kenin was selected to play the last singles rubber against
Timea Bacsinszky Timea Bacsinszky (; born 8 June 1989) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. A former top ten singles player, Bacsinszky reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 9, on 16 May 2016. She won four singles and five doubles titles o ...
. Kenin defeated Bacsinszky to win the tie 3–1 and keep the United States in the World Group for 2020. With a new format in
2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...
and the name of the Fed Cup competition changing to the Billie Jean King Cup mid-season, Kenin played in the Qualifying round in a tie against
Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...
a week after winning the 2020 Australian Open. After defeating
Anastasija Sevastova Anastasija Sevastova (born 13 April 1990) is a Latvian professional tennis player. She achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 in October 2018, after reaching a Premier Mandatory final at the China Open. Sevastova has won four sin ...
and losing to
Jeļena Ostapenko Jeļena "Aļona" Ostapenko (born 8 June 1997) is a Latvian professional tennis player. She has career-high rankings of world No. 5 in singles and No. 4 in doubles by the WTA. Ostapenko has won nine WTA Tour-level singles and eleven doubles tit ...
, Kenin partnered with
Bethanie Mattek-Sands Bethanie Mattek-Sands ( Bethanie Lynn Mattek; born March 23, 1985) is an American professional tennis player. She has won nine Grand Slam titles (five in women's doubles and four in mixed doubles), and an Olympic gold medal, and is a former w ...
to defeat the two of them in the decisive doubles rubber. The United States advanced to the Billie Jean King Cup Finals where they were drawn in a round-robin group with
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
and
Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...
. In
2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...
Kenin was selected by captain
Kathy Rinaldi Kathy Rinaldi-Stunkel (born March 24, 1967) is an American former professional tennis player, who retired in September 1997. In her career she won three singles and two doubles titles on the WTA Tour, and reached the semifinals of the 1985 Wimb ...
in the final event of her captaincy. Kenin played for the team at first singles given the team was missing both Gauff, Pegula, and Keys. She won her first tie, a three set epic against defending champion Switzerland's
Viktorija Golubic Viktorija Golubic (; ; born 16 October 1992) is a Swiss professional tennis player. On 28 February 2022, she reached her career-high singles WTA ranking of No. 35. On 17 April 2023, she peaked at No. 61 in the doubles rankings. She is the curre ...
, but lost to Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova only winning two games in the tie against the Czech Republic.
Danielle Collins Danielle Rose Collins (born December 13, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. She has reached career-high WTA rankings of world No. 7 in singles and No. 79 in doubles. Collins has won four singles titles, including a WTA 1000 titl ...
did well at second singles winning both her ties, but failed to clutch the tie against the Czech Republic alongside Taylor Townsend in the deciding doubles. Team USA, after winning the tie over Switzerland 3-0 and losing to the Czech Republic 1-2, finished 2nd in the group and did not advance to the semifinals. Team USA is one of eight finalists for the Billie Jean Cup 2025 to be held in China in September.


Playing style

Kenin has an aggressive style of play that is built around incorporating a variety of shots into her game rather than just power. She plays primarily from the baseline and can hit winners with both her forehand and
backhand The backhand is a shot used in most racket sports, such as tennis, table tennis and pickleball, where the back of the hand precedes the palm when swinging the racket. Except in the phrase ''backhand volley'', the term refers to a groundstr ...
. She excels at disguising whether her backhand is going cross-court or down the line. Two of Kenin's best shots are her backhand down the line and her inside-in forehand. Kenin can strategically add slice to her backhand, which she may use to hit well-disguised
drop shot A drop shot is a shot in some racket sports in which the ball (or birdie) is hit relatively softly, sometimes with topspin or backspin, so that it lands just over and close to the net. A well-placed and well-timed drop shot will make it difficult ...
winners. On occasion, she can also hit slice forehands, a rare shot in modern tennis. On the defensive side, Kenin is capable of hitting her forehand even as high as shoulder height.
Petra Kvitová Petra Kvitová (; born 8 March 1990) is a Czech professional tennis player. Known for her powerful left-handed groundstrokes and variety, Kvitová has won 31 career singles titles, including two Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major titles ...
noticed Kenin's aggressive and determined style of play in early 2018, a trait that Kenin's father said that she had developed in 2017, her first full year on the professional tour. She had previously been described by
Maria Sharapova Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (, ; born 19 April 1987) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 21 weeks. Sharapova won 36 WTA Tour-level sin ...
as more of a "grinder," that is, a counter-puncher who has good movement and gets a lot of balls back in play without trying to end points. One of the keys to Kenin's style of play is consistency, in particular with redirecting shots. Her childhood coach Rick Macci has praised her determination. He has called her "the mosquito," saying, "She’s just there the whole time, bothering you. She’s had this innate mental strength since she was a little kid. It was already baked in there." Macci also stated: "Her timing of the ball is better than anybody I ever taught. You’ll notice she’s not out of balance that much, and she can take the ball right off the bounce like a wizard. Everyone can hit deep, but the angles she gets, even while taking the ball early, are so acute that she gets you off the court, and then she goes for the jugular." Kenin has an unusual service motion in that she looks downward initially during her ball toss.


Endorsements

Between 2018 and 2022, Kenin was endorsed by Fila for her clothing and shoes, having previously been sponsored by
Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...
. Since 2022, Kenin has been sponsored by the American athletics company Free People Movement. Kenin's racket sponsor is Babolat, and she uses the Pure Drive model. In January 2021, Kenin signed an endorsement deal with American consumer electronics and telecommunications company
Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois. It was founded by brothers Paul and Joseph Galvin in 1928 and had been named Motorola since 1947. Many of Motorola's products had been ...
. In May 2021 Kenin was announced as a brand ambassador for the fitness kinesio-therapeutic tape brand KT Tape.


Career statistics


Grand Slam tournament performance timelines


Singles


Doubles


Grand Slam tournament finals


Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)


Other significant finals


WTA Premier/1000 tournaments


=Doubles: 2 (2 titles)

=


See also

* List of select Jewish tennis players


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kenin, Sofia 1998 births American female tennis players Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's singles Living people Russian emigrants to the United States Tennis players from Moscow Sportspeople from Pembroke Pines, Florida Tennis players at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics Australian Open (tennis) champions World number 1 ranked female tennis players Jewish American tennis players American people of Russian-Jewish descent Tennis players from Florida 21st-century Russian Jews 21st-century Russian sportswomen 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American sportswomen