|
 [May 11, 2024]
Sofia Kenin added her growing record of success at Foro
Italico by toppling No. 8 seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia 7-5, 2-6, 6-4
in the Round of 64 of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia on Friday in
Rome.
The 25-year-old American upset Belarusian star Aryna Sabalenka in
Italy last year. Kenin notched her sixth win in the main draw in
Rome, her best total at any WTA 1000 event.
"I love the surface, the courts here," Kenin told reporters. "I feel
like they're slow, which suits my (favorite) conditions. There's no
altitude (like Madrid), which I love. I feel like I'm very
comfortable here."
Kenin won despite having five double faults without an ace, while
Jabeur fired nine aces past her. Kenin was especially successful
once she got Jabeur to her second serve, winning 60.4 percent of her
second-return points (32 of 53).
"I'm feeling great, happy with the way I played," the former World
No. 4 said. "Definitely, I feel like I've come a long way. It's
going in the right direction. I feel like the hard work is paying
off. The fact that I'm still fighting."
Sabalenka, the tournament's second seed, had a scare of her own
Friday but came out on the other side. She defeated American Katie
Volynets 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, saving 11 of 16 break points along the way.
"Honestly, for someone who has been sick for four days and couldn't
get out of bed I think I played really quite well," Sabalenka
explained. "In the first set I just didn't feel my tennis at all, I
couldn't feel the rhythm. Just different conditions. So in the
second set I said whatever, just do your best with what you have
today."
[to top of second column] |
No. 5 seed Maria Sakkari of Greece skated past
France's Varvara Gracheva 6-2, 6-2, and Latvian ninth seed Jelena
Ostapenko defeated Russian Anastasia Potapova 6-4, 6-2.
No. 11 seed Jasmine Paolini wasn't as fortunate.
Mayar Sherif of Egypt outlasted the Italian crowd-favorite Paolini
7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-4 in two hours, 41 minutes.
Three matches ended in retirement. No. 13 seed Danielle Collins won
her first set 6-4 before Russian opponent Anna Blinkova injured her
ankle in the first game of the second set and couldn't continue. No.
30 seed Anhelina Kalinina was up 2-0 on Ukrainian countrywoman Lesia
Tsurenko when Tsurenko retired. And Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania
led 5-2 when France's Oceane Dodin retired.
Also victorious Friday were No. 16 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine,
No. 22 seed Caroline Garcia of France, No. 23 seed Anna Kalinskaya
of Russia, No. 24 seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, No. 27 seed
Elise Mertens of Belgium, No. 32 Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine,
Rebecca Sramkova of Slovakia and Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain.
--Field Level Media
[© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely
responsible for this content.
|
