Sofia Kenin became the new Australian Open winner, and the youngest one since 2008 and Maria Sharapova. The American player managed to defeat Garbine Muguruza after coming back from behind, 2-1, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.
“My dream has officially come true,” Kenin said. “If you have a dream, go for it, because it can come true.”
It is better to say that after the opening set, Kenin rolled over stunned Spaniard, who couldn’t tell what hit her. The fans at Rod Laver Arena had a chance to see a display of atomic tennis of the 21-year old who was looking more than dominant on the court.
What was the key moment of the entire match took place in the third set, once she rebuffed Muguruza’s surge and three break-point chances of the Venezuelan-born champion. You could see the despair in Muguruza’s eyes as the opportunity for her third Grand Slam trophy slowly faded away.
Those rallies were probably the best that one ladies tennis match can offer, and Kenin went out as a winner in all of them. Whether that was a forehand or backhand, she would always find a way to beat the rival, who, by the way, managed to return some shots after an amazing individual effort.
“Congratulations, Sofia. You played an incredible match and an incredible tournament,” said Muguruza at the trophy ceremony. “You deserve the trophy. I think we are going to see you play more finals, for sure.”
After taking the first set, it was expected that she continues pressuring Kenin, but simply, it wasn’t possible. The Moscow-born American raised the level of her play to astonishing heights, which unreachable for Muguruza. And also, we need to add, that the former Wimbledon and Roland Garros champ made lots of errors, which severely deteriorated her prospects to stand up to Kenin.
Nevertheless, her run here in Melbourne was superb, as she eliminated, Simona Halep, Elina Svitolina, Kiki Bertens, and Anastasija Pavlyuchenkova while reaching this stage. She would have been the first unseeded player to win the tournament since Serena Williams and 2007.
Muguruza wasn’t in the top echelon of female tennis for some time, but after pairing up with her former coach Conchita Martinez following a two-year breakup, the results immediately appeared.
On the other hand, Kenin won the Grand Slam after being a part of the main draw just 12 times. She couldn’t hide the emotions following the contest.
“I cannot even describe this feeling, it’s so emotional and I worked so hard. I’m just so grateful to be standing here – dreams come true.”
With this victory, Kenin will jump from 14th up to the 7th place in the WTA list, while on the other side, Muguruza will come back to the top 20. The matchup in the finals was not expected, let alone the winner.
We are now one match away from the ending of the first Grand Slam of the season, and that is the men’s finals. Tomorrow morning, Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem will decide who is the new gentlemen’s champion of the Aussie Open.
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