(Reuters) – American fourth seed Sofia Kenin recovered from a wobbly start to reach the French open quarter-finals with a 2-6 6-2 6-1 victory against France’s Fiona Ferro on Monday.
The Australian Open champion, who next faces Compatriot Danielle Collins or Tunisian Ons Jabeur, broke into tears after ending the contest with a service return winner.
It took Kenin a while to find her range but once she did, she went through the gears and demolished the world number 49, the last French player in the seniors draws.
“She played really well, she’s such a tough player to play. Sorry I had to win but I’m just super proud of myself,” said Kenin.
Kenin broke Ferro’s first service game and moved 2-0 up, only for the Frenchwoman to win six games in a row to bag the opening set, greatly helped by her opponent’s 16 unforced errors.
Kenin, however, took the ball earlier in the second set, which changed the face of the match as Ferro could not keep up with the American’s pace.
“I was making too many errors in the first and I knew I needed to be more aggressive and go for my shots,” Kenin said.
Her aggressiveness was just too much to handle for Ferro, who then never looked able to turn the tide.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Christian Radnedge)