Sofia Kenin Breaks Through In 2020 And Is Named WTA Player of The Year
Sofia Kenin was voted the WTA Player of The Year for 2020. Kenin won her first grand slam title at the Australian Open this year. She also reached the finals at the French Open, losing to Iga Swiatek, and finished the year ranked number 4 in the world.
Sofia Kenin is the youngest American to win a grand slam since Serena Williams in 2002. Though she accumulated 1,000 points more than another WTA player in 2020, she had to settle for world number 4 as a result of changes made to the ranking system due to COVID-19, which allows players to keep the best of 2019 or 2020 ranking points for a tournament. Ashleigh Barty, who didn’t play a single tournament after February 2020, finished the year ranked number 1 in the world on the back of ranking points from 2019.
Sofia Kenin was well known in tennis circles from a young age. At age 6, she took a private tour with Kim Clijsters at the Miami Open. Her best result at the junior level came at the 2015 US Open, where she reached the final. But 2020 was the year she broke through on the women’s tour.
Serena Williams, who has dominated women’s tennis in the US for almost two decades is likely to retire in the next few years. Sofia Kenin is positioned to step in and carry the US flag when it is time.
The WTA Player Awards are given based on votes from the members of the international media. Iga Swiatek was voted the WTA Most Improved Player of the Year and Nadia Podoroska was voted the WTA Newcomer of The Year.