Kenin shocks Barty, reaches Australian Open final

Young American Sofia Kenin will contest her first Grand Slam final on Saturday after beating world No. 1 and home-crowd favorite Ash Barty on Day 11 of the Australian Open.

Kenin, 21, toppled last year’s French Open champion, 7-6, 7-5, in a scintillating display of power and composure, holding her nerve at the important moments in the biggest match of her career.

The American will have one day to recuperate and strategize before the new biggest match of her career, a championship battle against unseeded Garbiñe Muguruza in what Kenin has called a “dream come true.”

“I've always dreamed about this,” Kenin told reporters after her victory. “Of course, I believed in myself. It was just great. I'm so happy I was able to share the court with Ash. After the match, of course it's pretty emotional. It's the finals. It's something different. It's surreal. So grateful for it.”

On Wednesday evening, Kenin (pictured above) kept those emotions in check in becoming the first American other than a Williams sister to reach the final in Melbourne since Lindsay Davenport in 2005.

Kenin saved three break points in the first set to hold for 3-3, and she fought her way into a tiebreak despite never seeing a break point in any of her six return games. Barty led 4-2 and 6-4 in the tiebreak, but Kenin repelled a pair of set points, the second behind a daring cross-court backhand return, and won the final four points to steal the opener.

In the second set, Barty broke in the third game and held serve to consolidate a 3-1 advantage. The Australian served at 5-4 to send the semifinal into a decider, but Kenin saved two more set points before securing her first break of the contest to restore parity.

After Kenin held to love, Barty now found herself serving to stay in the tournament. She saved the first match point at 15-40 with a forehand winner to cap a 17-ball rally, but Kenin sealed her spot in the final on the very next point, when a cross-court forehand forced Barty to hit her return deep.

“I believed I could win, even though I had two set points down in the first and second,” Kenin said. “I could literally feel, I was telling myself, I believe in myself. If I lose the set, I'm still going to come out and believe. Yeah, I really did a great job with it. I didn't give up.

“I knew it was a tough match. Of course, some things didn't go my way with the challenges and some great shots she came up with. But I didn't let that stop me. I was fighting. I left everything out all on the court, so it paid off.”

Awaiting Kenin is former world No. 1 Muguruza, who defeated No. 4 seed Simona Halep, 7-6, 7-5. Kenin won their only previous meeting, prevailing in a rollercoaster 6-0, 2-6, 6-2 win in the Round of 64 in Beijing last year.

Kenin is expected to break into the Top 10 when the new rankings are released Monday. Should she beat Muguruza, she will climb to a career-best No. 7, which would also make her the top-ranked American woman.

Kenin, the 14th American to reach the Australian Open final in the Open era, is the youngest finalist since 2008, when Ana Ivanovic, age 20 years, 82 days, fell to another 20-year-old, Maria Sharapova, in the final. Naomi Osaka was just a few weeks older than Kenin is now when she won the title last year at 21 years, 102 days old.

In the Open era, 11 players have captured their maiden major at Melbourne. Now Kenin has a chance to make that 12 players, joining Kerry Melville Reid (January 1977), Chris O’Neil (1978), Barbara Jordan (1979), Hana Mandlikova (1980), Mary Pierce (1995), Martina Hingis (1997), Jennifer Capriati (2001), Amelie Mauresmo (2006), Victoria Azarenka (2012), Angelique Kerber (2016) and Caroline Wozniacki (2018).

“Not everyone gets to live this moment, live this dream,” said Kenin, who turned 21 in November. “I'm just really grateful for it. I've worked so hard. I've put all the efforts into my practices, into my fitness. All the efforts I've been doing, it's got me here. It's just paying off, and it's like a dream come true for me.”

Elsewhere in the American effort on Day 11, David Wagner finished runner-up in the quad wheelchair doubles event alongside Andrew Lapthorne. The American and British pair fell in the final to Aussies Dylan Alcott and Heath Davidson, 6-4, 6-3.