Pembroke Pines’ Sofia Kenin followed-up her January Australian Open title with her second of the year on Sunday in Lyon, France, defeating unseeded Anna-Lena Friedsam 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 for the inaugural Open 6eme Sens – Metropole de Lyon championship.
Career singles title number 🖐 for @SofiaKenin!
She takes the 🏆 at #Open6emeSensML pic.twitter.com/YlB6NPyDzP
— USTA (@usta) March 8, 2020
In the first round the No. 1-seeded Kenin snapped a three-match losing streak on the WTA Tour, saving a match point against qualifier Jaqueline Cristian.
“I knew I needed to regroup, and I’m so happy that I won it,” said Kenin who in the first round won her first match since the victory in Melbourne. “Every match was a close one and I had to really fight through — every player I played put up a tough fight against me, and I was able to play my game which was good.”
Kenin toughed-out a final that saw her hit 29 winners to 42 unforced errors, eventually improving to 4-1 career in finals.
The story of Lyon 🇫🇷
All the best 📸 from the @Open6emeSensML –> https://t.co/Jwflr5qOI9 pic.twitter.com/AWYloXHSnj
— wta (@WTA) March 9, 2020
The 26-year-old German Friedsam was appearing in her second career final and returning to the tour after two shoulder surgeries. She entered Lyon at No. 136 on the WTA rankings.
In the third set the 21-year-old Kenin broke serve straight away, eventually running out to a 4-1 lead before hanging on to close out the match 6-4.
😁 + 🏆 in 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/AxgxKhpQF9
— USTA (@usta) March 8, 2020
Kenin with the victory climbed to a career-high No. 4 on the WTA rankings behind No. 1 Ashleigh Barty, No. 2 Simona Halep, and No. 3 Karolina Pliskova.
For more info go to www.wtatennis.com.
