Sofia Kenin through to Australian Open semi-finals for first time after beating Ons Jabeur

Dreamland: Sofia Kenin is through to a first Grand Slam semi-final after beating Ons Jabeur.
REUTERS
Joe Krishnan28 January 2020

Sofia Kenin has become the first player to reach the Australian Open semi-finals after beating Ons Jabeur in straight sets.

The 21-year-old went for a defensive approach and her gameplan worked as the unseeded Tunisian racked up the unforced errors.

Kenin needed six set points to seal the first set but had no trouble in getting over the line in the second, clinching a 6-4, 6-4, success in an hour and 32 minutes at the Rod Laver Arena.

In her first-ever Grand Slam semi-final, Kenin will face either world number one Ash Barty or seventh seed Petra Kvitova in the last four.

Before this year's tournament, Jabeur had never won a main draw match at the Australian Open. Now, she was competing for a place in the semi-finals.

In Pictures | Australian Open 2020

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It was new territory for Kenin too; the Russian-American had never got past the fourth round of a Slam, let alone the quarter-finals, but her seeding ensured she would be the favourite heading into this one.

Whether it was a case of nerves or lack of intensity, neither player made much of an impression early on with a series of breaks and a host of unforced errors, mainly from Jabeur.

But when Kenin finally locked down the break at 5-3, it felt like she just had the edge in this contest. Still, Jabeur clung on for dear life and denied Kenin to chance to wrap up the set five times before the American made it count on the sixth try.

The second set was quicker, more intense and brought about some emotional outcries from both players.

But in the seventh game, Kenin found the answer to her problems, breaking Jabeur to take hold of the second set and never looked like losing from there to march forward towards her maiden semi-final in Melbourne.

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