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American Sofia Kenin will enter her first Grand Slam final on Saturday armed with abundant confidence from her win over world No.1 Ashleigh Barty.
A quick stats download may also provide the 14th seed with valuable insights as she vies for the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup against two-time major winner Garbine Muguruza.
Interestingly, Kenin holds a slight head-to-head advantage over the Spaniard, having triumphed 6-0 2-6 6-2 in the pair’s only meeting to date, in Beijing last September.
Against Barty, Kenin was able to lean on her mental strength, fitness and overall focus, attributes which she’ll again seek to harness.
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The American was able to win the majority of long rallies, measured as rallies of five shots or more, according to data from Infosys. The 21 year-old’s dominance of such rallies all tournament have contributed to her deep run.
The right-hander was also able to hold her serve under pressure, fending off three of four break points. That ratio is better than her tournament average of 67 per cent which is based on the 18 of 27 break points that she’s saved so far.
Kenin also landed both of her two aces, a quarter of her total ace count this tournament, in the T-section of the ad-court, Infosys data shows.
To be sure, her next opponent has an entirely different game-style to Barty. The Australian lost all but three of her eleven net points in their semifinal and won 64 per cent of her 53 net points during the tournament, compared to Muguruza’s 76 per cent conversion rate from a combined 103 approaches through the first six rounds.
Notably, on so-called crucial points, Kenin was able to win 80 per cent of her first serves.
Infosys defines crucial points as those which, when lost by any player, can potentially lead to a substantial change in the outcome of the match.
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Each player’s winning and losing probability is calculated throughout the match at every point, and after every point is completed, Infosys tracks the changes in probability for both outcomes.
Points where this change in probability is the highest are deemed crucial points.
During these most important junctures, Kenin converted half the break points she created and limited her unforced errors to just two. If she’s able to replicate or even improve on that consistency during Sunday’s nail-biting moments, one more win – and her maiden Grand Slam title - may be within reach.