Sofia Kenin

About Sofia Kenin

Sofia Anna "Sonya" Kenin[1] (born November 14, 1998) is an American professional tennis player. She has a career-high Women's Tennis Association (WTA) ranking of No. 4 in the world and is the top-ranked American in women's singles. She is the reigning WTA Player of the Year, an award she earned by winning the 2020 Australian Open and finishing runner-up at the 2020 French Open. Kenin has won five WTA singles titles and won two WTA doubles titles, including the 2019 China Open at the Premier Mandatory level with Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

Kenin was a child prodigy who drew the attention of veteran coach Rick Macci at the age of five and became a celebrity in the tennis community soon after. Coached primarily by her father, Kenin developed into a promising junior player, reaching No. 2 in the world after winning the Orange Bowl at the age of 16 and finishing runner-up in 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 won her first three titles in 2019 and finished the year just outside the top 10. With her title at the 2020 Australian Open, Kenin became the youngest American to win a Grand Slam women's singles title since Serena Williams in 1999. At the end of the season, she followed up her 2019 WTA Most Improved Player of the Year award by being named the 2020 WTA Player of the Year.

Kenin's style of play centers around using a wide variety of shots to disrupt her opponents. Having been more passive as a junior, Kenin developed into a more aggressive player as a professional while also improving her consistency, skills that laid the foundation for her rise into the upper echelon of women's tennis. She has been praised for her mental toughness and persistent determination.[citation needed]

As of December 2023, she has amassed 209,000 followers on Instagram.