Former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin has received a wildcard to play in a WTA 125 event in Angers in France.
The former top five player has endured a torrid time since her breakthrough maiden Grand Slam win in Melbourne. Despite making the final of the French Open in 2020 (the same season she won in Australia), her progress has stalled hugely.
Injuries, the pandemic, and a loss of form have all seen the once promising rising star of American tennis plummet in the rankings.
However, she has taken the route of dropping down to some lower level events recently, playing on the challenger tour to build up her match sharpness and gain some match-winning confidence to take back with her onto the main tour.
It appears this is again Kenin's thinking with her acceptance of a wildcard into Angers.
The second edition of the Angers Open P2i will take place from December 5th to the 11th at the Arena Loire in Trélazé.
There, Kenin will meet last year's runner-up at the tournament, Shuai Zhang. It will be a tough opening match for the American - now ranked 257th in the world - as Zhang arrives full of confidence.
Having recently reached her best ranking thanks to a WTA 250 title win in Lyon, Zhang was also a WTA 250 finalist in Birmingham this year and made it to the round of 16 of the US Open in September.
Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina, currently 53rd in the world, will also be there as the No. 1 seed.
Should Kenin do well in Angers, she will then turn her attention to the site of her greatest triumph at the start of next season - Melbourne Park.
It will be long road back to the top of the game for Kenin, but one that she has every intention of travelling.
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