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Rennae Stubbs thinks Sofia Kenin's performance against Elena Rybakina is a great indication that the 2020 Australian Open is starting to find her game and form again. Kenin, who was granted a main draw wildcard into Indian Wells, ousted 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens 6-4 6-1 in her opener at the tournament.
On Saturday, Kenin competed extremely against Rybakina but the 2022 Wimbledon champion escaped with a 7-6 (6) 7-6 (5) win. Also, Kenin is now working with Michael Joyce, the coach who once worked with Maria Sharapova. "Awesome to see @SofiaKenin making a match of this.
Shows you how close she still is to the best. Great to see @mikejoyce73 coaching her too. Going to make a big difference!" Stubbs tweeted.
Awesome to see @SofiaKenin making a match of this. Shows you how close she still is to the best.
Great to see @mikejoyce73 coaching her too. Going to make a big difference! — Rennae Stubbs OLY (@rennaestubbs) March 12, 2023
Kenin competed extremely well against Rybakina
Rybakina earned the first break of the match in the eighth game for a 5-3 lead but Kenin broke back in the ninth game after saving a set point.
As no more breaks were seen, the first set had to be resolved in a tie-break, where Rybakina earned herself two more set points and realized her third set point to win a tight opener. After losing the first set, Kenin claimed an early second-set break in the fourth game for a 3-1 lead.
Unfortunately for Kenin, her lead was short-lived as Rybakina broke back in the seventh game and the set later went to a second tie-break. In the second-set tie-break, Kenin won four consecutive points to take a 5-4 lead.
But after winning four consecutive points, Kenin lost the next three points as Rybakina clinched a two-set win. “I was really happy I won in two sets. The conditions were difficult to day; it’s very windy. She played really well in some moments.
It went my way and I’m really happy. The big goal is to play really well in these really big tournaments here, for example, and the Grand Slams, of course. The goals are high, so I need to work a lot," Rybakina said after beating Kenin.