Iga Swiatek and Sofia Kenin will play in the opening round of the 2024 Australian Open, but they have some history, and the Pole talked about it after the draw.
Sofia Kenin was the Australian Open champion in 2020, a hugely surprising run that finished with an upset win over Garbine Muguruza in the final 4-6 6-2 6-2. Iga Swiatek would win her maiden Grand Slam trophy that same year at the postponed Roland Garros, which was played in autumn, some weeks after the US Open.
That was the pandemic season, which was stopped before the Indian Wells Masters. There was no Wimbledon that year, but Roland Garros was played much later in the year, and it saw the Polish youngster win.
So, where do these two intertwine their fates? In that final Swiatek bested Kenin 6-4 6-1. It's been a very different tennis life since then for both. Swiatek became world number one and won 3 more Grand Slams.
On the other hand, Kenin battled multiple injuries and has yet to return to her old level. It's something the Polish player spoke about ahead of their first-round match.
"I mean, it kind of strikes me sometimes that we played my first Grand Slam final was against Sofia and now we're playing in the first round. It's pretty weird. That's how our life journeys kind of went apart. I know she's been playing some solid tennis."
Swiatek got a look at Kenin at the Abu Dhabi World Tennis League where they both played. The plan is rather simple. The team will look at this version of Kenin and prepare the tactics for the match. It's standard practice for Swiatek.
"She was playing in Abu Dhabi. It's not going to be easy. I'll just get prepared the same way as usual. We're going to talk about the tactics. Yeah, we haven't played in a while, so I have to kind of see how she's playing right now. That's all."
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