French Open final between the Pole, a relaxed introvert, and the American Kenin, who displays a tightly strung intensity, will be a fascinating duel
Just over eight months ago, the former world No 1 Garbiñe Muguruza arrived in the Australian Open final favoured to squash the lowly rated Sofia Kenin. In the third set, Muguruza finally made her move by rushing to a 0-40 lead at 2-2 and threatening to snatch the momentum. Instead, Kenin responded with one of the great under-pressure games of recent times. Against a far stronger opponent she stood on the baseline and blazed five winners in a row from triple break-point down. She did not lose another game.
At the time, when people were still unsure of the heights Kenin could hope to reach, it was easy to conclude that her boldness was an anomaly. However, over the past two weeks in Paris Kenin was pushed to three sets in four of her first five matches and she has constantly demonstrated her ability to elevate her level under pressure.
