AUSTRALIA’S best hope at a female Grand Slam winner on home soil has made it through to the final four against a young American who has passed every challenge thrown her way.

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Age: 23 | 21
Height: 165cm | 170cm
Ranking: 1 | 15
Titles: 8 | 3
Grand Slam Titles: 1 | 0
Best Aus Open Result: QF (19′) | R2 (19′)

Two players you can expect to see a lot more of in the future are Australia’s Ash Barty and United States’ Sofia Kenin. Aged 23 and 21 respectively, both are set to be regular names on the WTA Tour, with the former already that, and the latter potentially announcing herself here at Melbourne Park. After only reaching the second round 12 months ago, Kenin has made her way into a semi-final on the back of some inspired tennis defeating giant killers, Ons Jabeur and Coco Gauff, dropping just a tiebreaker to Gauff on her way to five wins at Melbourne Park. Barty has been just as impressive, only dropping the two sets – her first of the tournament to Lesia Tsurenko, then having to battle hard to see off 18th seed and Kenin’s compatriot, Alison Riske in the fourth round. A confident straight sets win over seventh seed Petra Kvitova was her best match of the tournament, and Barty will be keen to carry that form into the semi-final.

Despite a break from tennis to pursue cricket, the 23-year-old has come back bigger and better than ever, winning eight titles, including Adelaide International a week prior to the Grand Slam. Four of those titles came last year, where she won her first Slam title at Roland Garros, and finished the year at number one following her win at the WTA Finals. Barty also became the first Australian woman in 36 years to make it through to a semi-final at Melbourne Park after her quarter final effort last year. Now with history beckoning, the number one seed is on the verge of making more history by booking a spot in the final if she can win. Make no mistake, Barty’s form has improved as the tournament went on, and while last year showed she can go to another level altogether, Barty has still been able to fight off some quality opponents. She has split her time between singles and doubles – as has Kenin – with her and partner Julia Goerges bowing out in the second round meaning she has had one less match this tournament, and had three and a half hours less on court than her opponent.

Both players are high up in the statistics, with Barty being the dominant server, ranked second in aces, and third overall for first serve points won. It makes for an intriguing contest given Kenin is third overall for both first serve and second serve points returned, while Barty is also top 15 in both statistics. The pair has created a total of 45 break points this Open, with Barty marginally ahead 23-22. But when it comes to previous meetings, the 23-year-old Australian has the wood over her American opposition. The pair has played five times with the Australian getting up on four of those occasions. In their last meeting at Wuhan, Barty defeated Kenin, 6-3 7-5 in the Round of 16, which reversed the American young gun’s upset over the number one seed in a come-from-behind 6-7 6-3 6-4 win at Toronto. Prior to that, Barty defeated Kenin in three sets on her way to the Roland Garros title, while the earliest of the four 2019 meetings was Barty’s triumph in the Fed Cup, leading Australian to victory over the United States. Kenin has shown she is capable of beating the big names, as exemplified in Toronto, and her form early in the year is solid, having won her maiden title 12 months ago in Hobart.

In 2020, both players had disappointing Brisbane International’s bowing out in the first round with Barty suffering a shock loss to 53rd ranked Jennifer Brady after a bye in the first round, and Kenin running into third seed, Naomi Osaka and going down in three sets. At Adelaide, Kenin fell to her red-hot American countrywoman, Danielle Collins going down in straight sets, as Barty went on to take home the title. Fast forward to the Australian Open semi-final, and the clash is effectively Barty’s serving ability against Kenin’s counter punching ability. Barty is more than capable of creating pressure on her opponents when they are serving, but is particularly damaging by winning free points off aces. Kenin is a reliable server, but does not have the power or impact that Barty has. The American is however one of the better returners in the game with a high work rate and a bright future. Given Barty’s improving form match by match, it is expected the Australian will get up in this contest, but it could go down to the wire in three sets.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: 5 MEETINGS

Ash Barty 4
Sofia Kenin 1

ENERGY LEVELS:

Sets dropped: 2 | 1
Time on Court: 9 hrs, 56 mins* | 13 hrs, 17 mins*

*Both include doubles playing time

KEY STATISTICS:

– Barty is ranked second overall for aces with 29 from five games
– Kenin has had a 73 per cent first serve percentage, ranked equal eleventh overall
– Barty is third overall for first serve points won, while Kenin is third overall for first serve points returned (Barty is sixth)
– Kenin is also third overall for second serve return points won (Barty is thirteenth)
– Barty is one ahead of Kenin when it comes to break points won (23-22) ranked third and fourth respectively