Sofia Kenin plays a forehand at the 2020 French Open at Roland Garros on Oct. 5, 2020 in Paris.
Sofia Kenin went down early and then battled back to win her fourth-round match Monday at the French Open, sending her on to the quarterfinals for the first time at Roland Garros.
Kenin, 21, is one of two Americans remaining in the singles competitions in Paris, and at No. 4 is the second highest seed remaining in the women’s tournament. She’ll face the winner of the rescheduled match between No. 30 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia and fellow American Danielle Collins. They’ll play on Tuesday after their planned meeting Monday was rained out.
Kenin, a 2014 Youth Olympian and the defending Australian Open champ, faced a challenging test against France’s Fiona Ferro in the Round of 16.
Ferro, who excels on clay and was riding an 18-match winning streak, took advantage of Kenin’s sluggish play in the first set to win six games in a row and go up 6-2.
However, in front of a small but pro-Ferro crowd, Kenin was able to turn things around and close out the match rather handily with 6-2 and 6-1 wins. The win eliminated the last French player in the singles tournaments.
“She played really well, she’s such a tough player to play,” Kenin told reporters after. “Sorry I had to win, but I’m just super proud of myself.”
Kenin had never reached the final eight of a Grand Slam until winning this year’s Australian Open, and now she’s done it again. Her previous best finish at Roland Garros came last year, when she upset Serena Williams in the third before falling to eventual champion Ashleigh Barty of Australia in the fourth.
Of the 32 women seeded for this year’s French Open, only four remain — and that could fall to three if Collins can upset Jabeur on Tuesday. The 26-year-old Collins, who is unseeded, is coming off a first-round loss at last month’s US Open but has already surpassed her career best finish at Roland Garros.