Florida’s Sofia Kenin kept her breakout year rolling on the WTA tour this week in Toronto where she upset world No 1 Ashleigh Barty 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 on Tuesday at the Rogers Cup in Canada.
The loss put Barty’s No. 1 ranking in jeopardy and created an opportunity for Japan’s Naomi Osaka to again take the top spot.
“With her, you gotta fight for every point,” said the 20-year-old Kenin, who was 0-3 against Barty entering the match, stretching her to three sets this year in a loss at the French Open.
Not only did she get her first win over @AshBar96, but it's also a win over the World No. 1. @PrakashAmritraj chats with American @SofiaKenin following her impressive win at #RC19. pic.twitter.com/Tau29UGrS1
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) August 7, 2019
Up a break in the first set, Kenin lost the set in a tiebreak. She lead 4-0 in the second set before the Australian fought back to 4-3 but the American closed it out to force a third. Kenin ran out to a 4-1 lead in the third before Barty brought it back to 4-3, but this time it was Kenin stepping up to close out the match.
In June, Kenin won the grass court title in Mallorca, Spain, following a French Open effort where she defeated Serena Williams before losing in the round of 16 to Barty 6-0 in the third set. At Acapulco in February she lost in the final, en route defeating former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka. In January she won the title in her second tournament of the year at Hobart, Australia.
She entered Toronto this week at No. 29 on the WTA rankings, two off her career high of No. 27. This week in Toronto Kenin will attempt to reach a fourth career final, as she is 2-1 career in championship matches, all occurring this year.
