Sofia Kenin Leads Semifinalists In Quebec City - UBITENNIS

Sofia Kenin Leads Semifinalists In Quebec City

The 19-year-old needed only 56 minutes to oust Monica Puig.

By Cole Paxton
3 Min Read

Sofia Kenin blew past Monica Puig in the highlighted quarterfinal in Quebec City on Friday, making the 19-year-old American the highest ranked player to reach the final four on the Canadian carpet.

Kenin needed just 56 minutes to secure the 6-3, 6-1 victory, a match in which she broke Puig on three consecutive occasions spanning sets and faced no break points herself. It’s a second career tour-level semifinal for Kenin, who made the final four as a qualifier on the grass in Mallorca this summer.

Also Friday, American qualifier Jessica Pegula stunned No. 2 seed Petra Martic in straight sets, while No. 8 seed Pauline Parmentier crashed the American party by handing Varvara Lepchenko a straight-set defeat.

Kenin, and her unflappable combination of pinpoint power and impressive consistency, made the biggest wave, however. She made 79 percent of first serves and lost just six points on her serve all match, including just two on her second serve. Puig, meanwhile, won just one more than half of points on her own serve.

The serving numbers were relatively even through the first six games, but when Puig badly missed two forehands from deuce at 3-3 to hand Kenin the first break, the match quickly spiraled. Kenin then held in under a minute, and Puig failed to close out her next service game from 40-0, making several errors to hand Kenin a set point, which she converted.

More winners from the 19-year-old flummoxed a sinking Puig, who lost serve for a third consecutive time early in the second set. Kenin lost only one point on her serve from that point forward, added an insurance break aided by exceptional forehand control and then smashed a service winner on her first match point.

She will move to a new career-high ranking of No. 61, and could jump another seven places with a win over Pegula. The older American, 22, saved four of five break points en route to snapping Martic’s seven-match winning streak, in which she had not lost a set.

Parmentier, meanwhile, will face either Heather Watson or Rebecca Marino, who were slated to play later Friday.

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