As a 22-year-old with a Grand Slam title under her belt and another Grand Slam final to her name, Sofia Kenin naturally has bucket loads of talent. Her backhand is absolutely elite, and her forehand is also damaging, as well as her serve being consistent. Whilst she does not generate a heap of power from the get-go and never approaches the net, she is a high tempo player who can also switch between dictating the play and defensively retrieving the ball to remain in the points.

STYLE: High Tempo / Retriever

STRENGTHS:

• Backhand power
• Backhand consistency
• Backhand effectiveness
• Backhand drop shot
• Backhand variety
• Backhand down the line
• Forehand consistency
• Forehand effectiveness
• Second serve return
• First serve consistency
• Second serve success

IMPROVEMENTS:

• First serve return
• Serving power
• Serving impact
• Volleying
• Approach shots
• Cross court shots
• First forehand return

From the beginning of a game, it is clear Kenin is not a strong server in the power sense, but she is one of the most effective when it comes to keeping the ball in play. After all, she is just 170cm and a lightly framed talent, so she is not expected to be a power server. A low percentage of double faults, coupled with a high first serve efficiency and second serve success means she ensures that she at least makes her opponent play every point. Kenin is particularly effective against players who are either inconsistent on serve, or defensively-minded players because the American can control proceedings from the baseline.

By far Kenin's greatest strength is her backhand, and not just in terms of consistency. Her power, her variety and her impact all rate in the elite bracket, with only her cross court shots needing to improve. She hits consistent down the line, inside out and inside in winners with her backhand, and she can also judge the weight of the ball with neat drop shots. Her effectiveness across short, medium or long rallies is phenomenal, and it is an area where she is in the top few on Tour.

Her forehand is not quite as varied, but still a strength with her consistency and effectiveness high. She can sometimes miscue the first return off her forehand side, but she still hits a high number of winners from her forehand. The next step for Kenin is developing more of an approach game, given she is never sighted at the net not approaching unless forced to, and she thrives on a baseline game and allowing her opponent to move around while she controls the play. Still being young with an Australian Open under her belt, Kenin is a star of the future, and while she could struggle against the big servers who are having good days - not overly strong on the first return and not guaranteed to easily win her service games - Kenin has enough about her to match up well against most opponents.