In Doha, Sofia Kenin secures first Top 20 win since 2020 Roland Garros semifinals

FLASHBACK: Kenin reaches 2020 Roland Garros final

Before Tuesday, the last time Sofia Kenin defeated a Top 20 opponent, it sent her into a second Grand Slam final.

The American’s tennis landscape has looked far different since that day at 2020’s autumn-staged Roland Garros, when the incoming Australian Open winner beat then No. 11-ranked Petra Kvitova in the semifinals. Kenin would lose the French Open final to Iga Swiatek, who on the contrary, has enjoyed a trajectory highlighted by another pair of major titles and a dominant hold of the No. 1 ranking.

A range of setbacks that included appendicitis, a split and reunion with her father as coach, a nagging ankle injury and a simple lack of confidence resulted in Kenin falling well outside the WTA’s elite group. The use of a protected ranking at the Australian Open proved fruitless when Kenin drew eventual semifinalist Victoria Azarenka in the first round.

Needing a wild card to gain entry into the Qatar TotalEnergies Open main draw, the 210th-ranked Kenin faced Liudmila Samsonova in her opener. The world No. 15 arrived depleted, having missed three championship points to drop a grueling Ahu Dhabi final to Belinda Bencic on Sunday.

Though Kenin would twice fail to back up a break in their first set, she received some help from Samsonova when the Russian tossed in consecutive double faults to hand the former world No. 4 a 5-3 lead. After capitalizing on that opportunity, Kenin stepped up in a big way, saving all 10 break points she faced during the second set. Her trademark redirection up the line shone through when she needed it in tandem with benefiting from a slew of unforced errors off Samsonova’s racquet.

When all was said and done, Kenin ran away with nine of the final 10 games to secure a 6-3, 6-1 victory. Samsonova made just 37 percent of her first serves in the 89-minute defeat. Eighth seed Veronika Kudermetova awaits Kenin in the second round.

As for Bencic, she kept her momentum rolling. The Swiss blitzed qualifier Viktoria Tomova, 6-0, 6-1, in just 58 minutes. Bencic broke five times after going 16 for 18 against Tomova’s second serve.

Kvitova, Danielle Collins and Jelena Ostapenko also won their openers.