Sofia Kenin swept into round two of the Miami Open at the expense of Australian qualifier Storm Hunter in a up and down display.
The American survived a minor second set scare to overcome the World No.200 as she controlled the majority of the match to triumph 6-0, 7-6, in an hour of tennis. Kenin has been as high as World No.4 as recently as March 2020 but finds herself at World No.164 as she looks to build her way back to the top and put a mix of poor form and injury behind her.
Aussie Hunter is better known for her doubles game where she sits at World No.13 and it showed as Kenin broke early to lead 2-0. US star Kenin can technically count Miami as a home event as she trains at the ProWorld Academy in nearby Delray Beach and resides in Pembroke Pines. And she was feeling right at home as she secured two more breaks to put the dreaded bagel on Hunter, finishing the set with 12 winners and just four unforced errors.
It was as commanding a display as you could see on a tennis court but Hunter finally made her mark on the scoreboard as she held serve at the start of the second set. But she was struggling to inflict any real damage onto Kenin from the back of the court and the former Australian Open champion was quite happy to dictate from the back of the court as she made the break through in the second set to lead 3-1.
Something had to change and fast for the Aussie as she was in danger of exiting the match and the tournament with a whimper. However, completely against the run of play, Hunter broke the Kenin serve, the American netting with a makeable volley and then double-faulting to hand the Australian a shock break of serve.
Those watching would be forgiven for thinking that was just a blip in an otherwise one-sided match but remarkably, Hunter broke again, Kenin netting to trail 3-4. A solid hold by each player had Hunter serving to level the match but almost inevitably, Kenin bullied her way to a salvaging break, pushing Hunter long with a backhand to square up at 5-5.
Against all the odds, the set would be decided by a tie break and Kenin's serve began to wobble as she threw out two double-faults. But it was a Hunter double-fault that ultimately decided this one as she handed Kenin her first match point which she duly took to wrap up the match.
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