The Story Behind The Picture: Sofia Kenin's underrated variety She told reporters in Everett: "Sonya [the name Kenin prefers to "Sofia"] coming back after the Australian Open, keeping her commitment, it's just great for American tennis. And in that word “maybe” is revealed Kenin’s deceptive asset. On Saturday at a Fed Cup event in Everett, Washington, Kenin celebrated with her doubles partner, "It's really such a unique experience," Mattek-Sands told reporters at the team's post-event news conference. She was looking forward to sharing a training table, locker room and common mission with Williams, one of her idols.

Like Davis Cup, Fed Cup has experienced a makeover, adopting a World Cup-style arrangement that will feature a round-robin format with four groups of three teams, followed by knockout semifinals and final over the course of one week.This year, Fed Cup is also a precursor to the Tokyo Olympic Games, which are July 24 to Aug. 9.

As each style posed a question, Hingis’ job was to come up with answers.Much as Kenin admired Sharapova, it’s clear that the older Russian’s relentless firepower wasn’t quite the right fit. Facebook; Twitter; Facebook Messenger; Email; Feb 10, 2020. But what makes her so willing to frequently close out rallies with the drop shot? Sofia Kenin, left, teamed up with Bethanie Mattek-Sands, right, for a 6-4, 6-0 doubles victory to give the U.S. a 3-2 win over Latvia in their Fed Cup qualifying match. "The Stars and Stripes racket was as effective as a magic wand in Australia, but after Kenin won, many expected she would pull out of the Fed Cup. Golf quiz questions and answers. I've been following her, all the Slams she's been winning," Kenin told the media after her triumph in Melbourne. From his base in Southern California’s South Bay, Robert Lansdorp has taught hundreds his beloved brand of flat, penetrating groundstrokes, including four who became No. The frames are painted to resemble various nations' flags. She was thrown into the deep end as an 18-year-old in her first appearance, a final in Prague against a veteran Czech team. It hasn't gained the traction it probably deserves in the U.S., but the event carries great weight in most other nations, not least because it enjoys the support of most top players. As her career continues, it will be fascinating to hear Kenin’s thoughts on how she learned not just to hit, but to see—to understand the court, her opponents and interpret how she needed to go about the business of competing. But even then, words might not do Kenin’s keen court sense justice. The competition offers the same daunting mix of opportunity and challenge as any other event in which national honor, not just individual accomplishment, is at stake.

Sofia Kenin comes up big again to lead U.S. to Fed Cup finals Sofia Kenin joins long list of bright, young, American tennis stars U.S. men continue to face challenges on the ATP Tour "They asked me if I wanted to be the only American representing the American flag," Kenin told the media in Everett. Injury has limited Williams' availability over the years, so much so that she joked about it on Friday, injecting the subject of her painful third-round loss to "Every time I try to play [Fed Cup], something happens," Williams said, referring to her history of physical problems. Kenin seems more likely to inherit Williams' view. She's encouraging you ... [and] you're playing for your country, it's not just for you. First, Ostapenko used the same aggressive shot-making that earned her own major title to stun Kenin.

Peter Bodo has been covering tennis for over 35 years, mostly recently for ESPN. Then you have your teammates; you can't let them down either. Australian officials have said they plan to create a WTA version of the new ATP Cup, an event that replaced a number of traditional tournaments as the tuneup for the first major of the year. "I was cheering Serena on very loud," Kenin said of her attempt to show Williams support during her grueling three-setter.

Like most contemporary pros, Kenin is proficient at opening up considerable court space with crisp groundstrokes. Williams was 14-0 in Fed Cup singles and hadn't lost even a set since a world group playoff tie against Italy five years ago. Nor is it likely to bounce millimeters off the ground, a la Stefanie Graf’s highly stylized slice. For that reason alone, there is much to be learned about a lesser-recognized, pleasing dimension of the 2020 Australian Open champion.The Kenin slice is not merely a form of desperate retrieval, though that has value too.