Who is Sofia Kenin, the 2020 runner up eyeing a maiden French Open title

Last year’s French Open runner-up, Sofia Kenin on Thursday successfully progressed to the third round of the tournament with a 7-5 6-3 victory over American tennis player Hailey Baptiste. Kenin is now the highest-ranked female player left in French Open 2021.

Sofia Kenin is an American professional tennis player, who plays Center forward, with a career-high number 4 ranking in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). She bagged the ‘WTA player of the year’ award in 2020 after winning the Australian Open tournament. This title made her the youngest American to win a Grand Slam women’s singles title after legendary player Serena Williams in 1999.  

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In total, Kenin won five WTA singles titles while two WTA doubles titles, which includes the 2019 China Open.  

Coached primarily by her father, Kenin caught veteran tennis coach Rick Macci’s eye when she was 5 and became a prominent name in the tennis world soon after. She made her debut in the top 100 of the WTA rankings in 2018 as a teenager.

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One of the youngest, most promising young players, Kenin ranked Number 2 in the world at the tender age of 16 after she claimed victory in the Orange Bowl tournament.