Kenin crashes Barty party
"I’m just speechless, I honestly can’t believe this. I’ve dreamed about this moment since I was five years old... I’ve worked so hard to get here."
Sofia Kenin
American tennis player
Unheralded American Sofia Kenin stunned world number one Ashleigh Barty to end home hopes at the Australian Open on Thursday.
Barty had sent Australian expectations soaring of a first home-grown winner since 1978, but aggressive 14th seed Kenin saved two set points in each set to win 7-6 (8/6), 7-5 and set up a championship final against Spaniard Garbine Muguruza on Saturday.
Unseeded Muguruza fought back from behind in both sets to defeat racquet-smashing fourth seed Simona Halep.
The Spaniard, a two-time Grand Slam champion, reached her first Melbourne final with a tough 7-6 (10/8), 7-5 victory at a steamy Rod Laver Arena.
The 26-year-old is the first unseeded player to reach the women’s final since Belgium’s Justine Henin in 2010.
Moscow-born Kenin, 21, looked stunned at reaching her first Grand Slam final, at a tournament where she has often gone unnoticed.
“I’m just speechless, I honestly can’t believe this. I’ve dreamed about this moment since I was five years old... I’ve worked so hard to get here,” said Kenin, who was a baby when her family moved to America with just a few hundred dollars to her name.
“She came up with some really great shots. I knew she wasn’t going to give it up to me -- I really had to fight out here. There’s a reason she’s number one.”
Kenin’s win came on a day when temperatures hit 38 Celsius (100.4 Fahrenheit), prompting play to be suspended on outside courts -- following earlier problems with bushfire smoke, downpours, wind and even muddy rain at the season’s opening Major.
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