If the camera footage from Sofia Kenin’s player box was used to make a film, it would be quite the dramatic series of emotional reactions from her father and coach Alex Kenin.
Alex often lives and dies with every point his 21-year-old daughter plays on a tennis court, and this fortnight, he got to see her make it all the way to the Australian Open final, where she takes on two-time major champion Garbine Muguruza on Saturday.
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On the eve of the final, Alex was asked by a reporter if he got nervous watching Sofia compete.
“Do I need to answer that?” he said with a laugh.
“I think I'm a little nervous, but I'm trying to do a better job. I'm not very successful in that, but a little better.”
Alex immigrated to the United States from the Soviet Union with his wife Lena in 1987, hoping to provide a better life for his kids. His daughter Sofia – nicknamed Sonya – was born in 1998 in Moscow, but was only there for three months as her parents got some help from her grandmother before returning back to America.
Alex’s early years in the States saw him study computer science during the day and drive a car service at night in New York when he could barely speak any English. While he made sure his daughter did not have to go through the difficult periods he had to endure, he says Sofia fully understands the sacrifices her parents had to make.
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“I think it gave her some toughness. I don’t think she experienced that much all the sacrifices we had to go through but she knows about them and when we just got to the country, it was very, very, very tough,” he recalls.
“It’s amazing the things you do when you need to survive. She knows about them, but thank God she didn’t have to experience them.”
Sofia, seeded 14 at the Australian Open, is “proud and thankful” that her parents gave her “an American dream”.
She first picked up one of her father’s racquets – he played recreationally – when she was three years old and started hitting balls with Alex in their driveway in Pembroke Pines, Florida. Alex took her to play at the local park, and when he realised her potential, he took her to train at Rick Macci’s academy in Boca Raton, encouraged by the fact that the Williams sisters had spent some time there in the past.
“It was a good choice because he gave her a really good foundation,” he says.
Alex has had huge belief in his daughter from a young age but admits not many people shared his same views. After her quarterfinal win over Tunisian Ons Jabeur, Alex grinned when he was asked if he enjoyed proving people wrong.
“Yes, I like it,” he said with a smile.
“I feel very good about it inside but I’m not going to mention it. She knows, and she knew it.”
He elaborated during his press conference on Friday by adding: “It's not just that tournament. It's been here for a while. She proved that she can compete on any level and at the same time, I do feel very good about it. Those people who didn't believe in her they had very valid reasons not to because she has always been the smallest one [in size]. But I guess thank God I saw something that they didn't because I know her better. I feel pretty happy. I guess I was right.”
Sofia had a huge 2019, winning three WTA titles, making the fourth round at the French Open – where she took out Serena Williams en route – and playing at the WTA Finals in Shenzhen as the second alternate.
In Melbourne, she upset world No.1 Ashleigh Barty in the semifinals and is now the first American woman since 2005, besides the Williams sisters, to make the title decider at the Australian Open.
“I felt very emotional but at the same time a little dead. I was surprised by myself, I was so overwhelmed. The whole match was very tight but believe me, I’m happy,” said Alex of his reaction to Sofia’s success over Barty.
“She’s very devoted to what she’s doing. It’s hard work. It’s not very easy, if it rains, or snows, we don’t miss a day unless we have to. We both decided that that’s what we want to do and I’m very honoured and pleased that she sticks to that.”
Sofia will come up against an opponent with far more experience at this level. Although her ranking has dipped to 32, Muguruza is a former world No.1 and is contesting the fourth Grand Slam final of her career. Sofia has done incredibly well to handle all the firsts she has experienced this fortnight, from her first quarterfinal, to semifinal, and now she is one win away from becoming a major champion.
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“Oh, it's very nervous, nerve-breaking, every stage. This is a big, big tournament. We're trying not to stop any plans and just trying to go ... it's a match. It's the same court. It's the same size. It's players that she's already played and she played a lot of players on the level of Muguruza,” says Alex.
“It's obviously the final. I don't even know because I don't know, I've never been there. But we're trying to take it one day at a time and it's a match. Let's try to win it. It's stupid to go in and say let's lose this match. We will try to win. That's it.”