Serena Williams, Karolina Pliskova and Naomi Osaka are probably the top favorites to win the US Open especially after the defection of the likes of the world no.1 Ashleigh Barty and the world no.2 Simona Halep. However, there is a player that will be curiously under the radar: Sofia Kenin.
The young American is the only 2020 slam champion so far after she won the Australian Open and with the postponement of the Roland Garros and the cancellation of Wimbledon. After conquering Melbourne, Sofia confirmed her great form also conquering the second title of the season in Lyon.
Sofia’s US Open ambitions
During a recent interview with the WTA Kenin confirmed that she is confident that she can have another good run at the US Open to say:
“I will just try to have good matches coming up to US Open and then hopefully I can do some good damage over there.”
During the press conference that anticipated the Western & Southern Open, Kenin admitted that she was profoundly disappointed for the stop imposed by the Coronavirus pandemic. She commented:
“Of course. Yeah, it’s tough. Really upset that this happened, but I really hope everything is going to go back to normal.
Definitely felt I was playing really well. I was the highest level I could ever be in my career. So of course was a little bit upsetting. I had no motivation after that.
But I’m picking myself back up and I’m playing well right now, and we will see how it’s going to keep going.
Sofia Kenin in 2020
Ranked no.4 (career-high), Sofia played her last match on the 8th of March when she overcame Anna-Lena Friedsam 6-2 4-6 6-4 in the final in Lyon to win her 5th career title.
This season Sofia has a 15-5 win-loss record. The American has won 2 titles in 2020 at the Australian Open and in Lyon.
Sofia will play her first match in New York on Sunday against Alize Cornet.
Serena Williams in 2020
Now ranked no.9, Serena played her last match on the 14th of August when she lost to Shelby Rogers 1-6 6-4 7-65 in the quarter in Lexington.
At present, this year the American has a 10-3 win-loss record. Serena Williams conquered 1 title in Auckland.
Sofia Kenin and Serena Williams played each other once. The head to head is 1-0 for Kenin. When they played, Sofia Kenin won 6-2 7-5 in the 3rd round in Paris (French Open) in June 2019.
Karolina Pliskova in 2020
Currently the world no.3, the Czech played her last match on the 26th of February when she lost to Ons Jabeur 6-4 3-6 6-3 in the 3rd round in Doha.
At present, this year Karolina has a 8-3 win-loss record. Karolina conquered 1 title in Brisbane.
Naomi Osaka in 2020
Currently the world no.10, Osaka played her last match on the 7th of February when she surrendered to Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-0 6-3 in the Rubber 1 of the Fed Cup.
Naomi Osaka’s most significant result of the year was getting to the semi-finals in Brisbane.
Karolina Pliskova and Naomi Osaka played each other 5 times. The head to head is 3-2 for Pliskova. The last time that they locked horns, Karolina Pliskova won 6-710 7-63 6-2 in the semifinal in Brisbane (Brisbane International) on the 11th of January 2020.
In the following video you can watch the highlights.
