Sofia Anna "Sonya" Kenin
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| Sofia Anna |
Born November 14, 1998) is an American professional tennis player. She has a career-high Women's Tennis Association (WTA) ranking of No. 12 in the world. Kenin has won three singles titles and two doubles titles on the WTA Tour, all five of which came in 2019. She was also named the WTA Most Improved Player of the Year in 2019, making her the first American to win the award since Serena Williams in 1999.
Kenin was a child prodigy whose ability attracted the attention of veteran coach Rick Macci at the age of five. Coached primarily by her father, Kenin became a promising junior player, reaching No. 2 in the world after winning the Orange Bowl at the age of 16 and finishing runner-up at the 2015 US Open girls' singles event the following year. She also won the USTA Girls 18s National Championship during that summer. On the professional tour, Kenin made her debut in the top 100 of the WTA rankings in 2018 as a teenager. She reached four WTA singles finals in 2019, and also won her first titles in both singles and doubles early in the year. Her best result at a Grand Slam tournament in 2019 came at the French Open, where she defeated Serena Williams and made it to the fourth round.
Early life and background
Sofia Kenin was born on November 14, 1998 in Moscow to Alexander and Lena Kenin. Her family moved to the United States a few months after she was born. They had previously left the Soviet Union to live in New York City in 1987, but returned to Russia for Kenin's birth so that other family members could help raise her initially. Her mother had worked as a nurse in the Soviet Union, and her parents had little money when they first moved to the United States. Kenin began playing tennis at the age of five, drawing inspiration from her father who had played recreationally. Her parents recognized her potential and arranged for her to begin training with Rick Macci in Broward County, Florida. Macci coached Kenin for seven years until she was twelve. He remarked, "Back then [when Kenin was five], I came right out and said Sofia was the scariest little creature I’d ever seen. It was unique: the hand-eye coordination and her ability to take the ball immediately right after the bounce. I have a lot of kids do that, but it was almost like it was baked in already, even though she was little and the racket was actually bigger than her. The only player I’ve seen like that is [former world No. 1] Martina Hingis. Kenin has also worked with Nick Bollettieri. Her primary coach has always been her father.
Kenin had success in tennis at a young age, which garnered widespread attention in the tennis community and helped put her on the covers of tennis magazines. Kenin began playing in United States Tennis Association (USTA) girls' 10-and-under tournaments at the age of seven, and became the top-ranked player in Florida in that division. She later was ranked No. 1 in the USTA national rankings for each of the 12, 14, 16, and 18-and-under divisions. Kenin had the opportunity to interact with ATP and WTA professional tennis players as a young child, including hitting with Anna Kournikova at age seven, and partnering with Jim Courier against Venus Williams and Todd Martin as part of an exhibition event.
Junior career[edit]
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Kenin reached a career-high of No. 2 in the ITF junior rankings.[6] She began playing in low-level Grade 4 events on the ITF Junior Circuit in 2012 at the age of 13. After winning her first titles in both singles and doubles in 2013, she progressed to the Grade 1 level.[6] Towards the end of the year, she made her Grade A debut at the Orange Bowl, reaching the semifinals in singles and finishing runner-up in doubles with Kaitlyn McCarthy to Tornado Alicia Black and Naiktha Bains.[7] Kenin made her junior Grand Slam debut in 2014, but only recorded one match win in singles while playing in the latter three events of the year.[6] Following the US Open, Kenin represented the United States at the Junior Fed Cup alongside CiCi Bellis and Black. The team won the tournament, sweeping Slovakia 3–0 in the final. Kenin went undefeated in her five matches, all in doubles.[8] Her next breakthrough came towards the end of the year when she won the Orange Bowl, defeating Bellis and Ingrid Neel in the last two rounds.[9]
Kenin built on that success in 2015 by winning the USTA International Spring Championships, a Grade 1 tournament.[10] During the summer, she won the USTA Girls 18s National Championship as the No. 3 seed, defeating the No. 1 seed Black in the final. With the title, she earned a wild card into the main draw of the 2015 US Open.[11] Kenin also participated in the junior event at the US Open and finished runner-up to Dalma Gálfi, her best performance at a junior Grand Slam event.[12] This result helped her rise to No. 2 in the world by the end of the year.[6] Kenin continued to play on the junior tour in 2016 while primarily playing in professional events on the ITF Women's Circuit. At the US Open, she again produced one of her best results of the year, losing in the semifinals to Viktória Kužmová after upsetting the No. 1 seed Anastasia Potapova in the previous round.
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