“Crowd Wasn’t The Best”: Sofia Kenin Reveals the Reason Behind her Overflowing Emotions at French Open 2020

Sofia Kenin displayed tremendous grit to march into the quarterfinals of French Open 2020. The American is continuing with her fine form and is now eyeing a career-best finish at Roland Garros. She had to endure a tough match against home favorite Fiona Ferro, who stretched her to the limit. 

As both athletes took to the court, not many would have expected Ferro to put up a terrific fight against the tournament’s #4 seed. The 2020 Australian Open champion was given no room in the first set as Ferro took an early advantage by winning 6-2. 

However, the Frenchwoman’s success was short-lived as Kenin roared back with the heart of a champion to break her opponent’s serve multiple times in the second set. Kenin broke Ferro seven times in the match to keep her hopes grand slam hopes alive. 

“I was just super proud of myself,” Kenin said after the game. “Yes, there was a lot of emotions. I was just super happy that I won. The crowd wasn’t the best which is still understandable. But still, I wish it would’ve been a little bit different.” 

“But I’m super happy that I’m in the quarters. I usually don’t play really good on clay. In the past, in the Juniors, I really hated the clay, and last year I started to like it for the first time,” she added.

Sofia Kenin reveals the toughest factor she had to overcome in the fourth round 

French Open 2020 has probably been the most challenging event this year. Players are struggling to cope with the extreme conditions in Paris. Moreover, the lack of fans is also a major void at this year’s Roland Garros. 

For Sofia Kenin, the biggest concern was the support against her. The American was playing a local hero, and the limited crowd did not help her case. With the fans against her for the whole game, Kenin found it hard to concentrate. Hence, the emotions flowed out after she got the 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory. 

“I’m just super proud of myself and I just feel like I’m playing really well. Emotions of you know, different stuff. Obviously, the crowd wasn’t for me, so it was obviously tough on me,” Kenin stated. 

“Yeah, I was obviously happy. You know, the quarter-finals I obviously wanted to win, so just emotions about that, and of course, joy. I wish I wouldn’t have cried but like I said, there was a lot of emotions.”

By winning the fourth, Kenin now moves into the last eight at French Open 2020. She’ll now face her compatriot Danielle Collins, who too has had an impressive outing in Paris so far. The unseeded Collins leads their head-to-head 3-0, but the pair have never met on clay.