The past year has seen U.S. tennis star Sofia Kenin make a series of breakthroughs, and with the new season approaching, the 22-year-old is hoping to maintain her momentum.
“I definitely feel like I’m a top player, and I’ve proven it. Overall confidence has gone up, I had a really good last year, tennis-wise, so I’m just going to try to keep the momentum going,” Kenin was quoted as saying by the WTA’s official website.
Last season, the American won her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, reached a second Grand Slam final at Roland Garros, rose to her current and career-high ranking of world number four, and was named WTA Player of the Year for 2020.
“It’s crazy that it’s been a year, and it feels like it was just yesterday,” said Kenin.
With the Australian Open looming, Kenin is hoping to prepare for it in Abu Dhabi and handle the pressure as the titleholder.
“It’s going to be exciting,” said Kenin, who will practise with 2017 Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko during the opening stages of the Australia’s mandatory two-week pre-tournament quarantine.
“Of course, different pressure, since I’m the defending champion, but I’m just going to try to get that out of my head and just take one match at a time. Hopefully I’ll have a good run there,” she added.
The main draw of the Abu Dhabi event will start on Wednesday, while the Australian Open, which normally starts in the third week of January, has been pushed back to February due to the spread of COVID-19.
