There were emotional scenes at the 2024 Japan Open in Tokyo after Sofia Kenin retired from a doubles match, meaning she could miss her first singles final in over a year.
Kenin is best known for her stunning run to the 2020 Australian Open title. After three straight-set triumphs to make the fourth round, she defeated Coco Gauff, Ons Jabeur, and Ashleigh Barty to reach the final.
The American lost the opening set of the final to former No. 1 Garbine Muguruza, but Kenin stormed back to win 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 and secure the Australian Open title at the age of just 21.
Kenin backed that achievement up a few months later by progressing to the 2020 French Open final. Iga Swiatek, who was controversially overtaken at No. 1 by Aryna Sabalenka, proved to be too good in the final.
It seemed like Kenin, whose backhand is one of the best in the sport, was set to consistently challenge for the most significant titles in tennis after reaching two Grand Slam finals.
However, staying near the top of tennis is not easy. Kenin has endured many challenging moments in the last few years due to a combination of form and fitness issues.
The 25-year-old slipped outside the Top 200 at the end of the 2022 season. Although experiencing difficulties after a sudden rise is common, no one expected a player of Kenin's class to fall so steeply.
To her credit, Kenin rebounded strongly in 2023. She produced a superb display to beat Gauff in the opening round of Wimbledon, got to her first singles final in nearly three years at the San Diego Open, and ended the year ranked No. 33.
But Kenin's struggles returned this year. She fell outside the Top 100 after several wretched results, including losing to the world No. 188 at last week's Japan Championships in Osaka.
Defeating Emma Raducanu at the US Open was one of the few positive moments in an otherwise awful 2024 for Kenin. Some may have been surprised that she entered this week's Japan Open rather than taking a break to refresh mentally.
However, Kenin's resilience paid off in Tokyo. She made the semifinal with wins against Xinyu Wang, Clara Tauson, and Daria Kasatkina, who comforted Mirra Andreeva during the trophy ceremony after winning the Ningbo Open.
Kenin then played a superb match to defeat the hard-hitting Katie Boulter to reach the final. After breaking the Briton's serve twice in the opening set by dominating on second-serve return, she produced some great serving of her own in the second set to win 6-4, 6-4.
That set up a meeting in the final against the Olympic gold medalist Qinwen Zheng. But Kenin's excellent tournament in Tokyo could have a heartbreaking ending after the doubles semifinal she played after her battle with Boulter.
The American was forced to retire from that match with an injury. She cried after that move, meaning her chances of being fit for the singles final do not appear very high.
Hopefully, Kenin can manage a sudden recovery, but it looks like the 2020 Australian Open champion will have to live with the devastation of missing the final.