Kenin survives at the Open 6éme Sens in Lyon

World Number 5 Kenin hasn't done much since her spectacular Australian Open run and while her ambitions remained high she almost lost today.

Sofia Kenin has had an amazing start to the year. While no one expected her to triumph in Australia she did. After doing that she didn't do much afterwards. Recently she broke her losing streak in the 1st round Lyon and many thought she might be turning the corner. She headlined today's day but it wasn't a good one for her.

Her opponent was Cristian from Romania and she managed to beat her. It started out great for Kenin who broke her opponent's serve in the 1st game. She would settle in nicely after that holding the lead comfortably throughout the set. With the score being 4-3 and Kenin serving she played a miserable game which she lost. She didn't any points in it and allowed her opponent to fight back.

Upset with that she came out fierce in the next game which she managed to win and give herself the chance to clinch the 1st set. She failed once more despite having a set point. She wouldn't have any more as the set peaked with a tiebreak. In it, it was the Romanian who was better and won it.

Set #2

The 2nd set was a bit more interesting than the 1st one. The Lyon crowd were enjoying the match as it was a good one. Kenin came out determined in the 2nd set wanting to right the wrongs from the 1st set. She was the better player overall but she simply failed in the most important moments.

But initially, it was more of the same. She once again missed a lot of opportunities to break her opponent before losing her own serve. She lost her serve at 2-2 and couldn't fight back until much later in the set. Cristian looked in control for the majority of the match. At 5-4 she had a match point to win it or her own serve but couldn't convert it. What she did to Kenin in the 1st set, Kenin did to her now.

Sofia battled back to make it 5-5 and give herself a chance. A chance is all she needed and finally, she conveyed one. She won the next two games to equalise to score and to bring the joyful Lyon crowd the 3rd set.

Set #3

The Lyon crowd was very excited to see this decider set unfold. Both players won their first two games but both of them had to save match points to do so. Their steady play continued throughout the set until Kenin broke her opponent to make it 5-3. She was one service game away from winning a match she could have easily lost. She jumped out to an early lead in the game but found herself defending a breakpoint minutes later.

She didn't and once again found herself in a match that should have ended a long time ago. Missed opportunities were a huge problem for her today. She would have some more in the following game. She failed to convert the 1st one but conveyed the 2nd one to close out the match. A valiant effort from both players but Kenin survived.

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