Sofia Kenin only narrowly missed out on being seeded at Australian Open 2024, just six ranking spots lower than 32nd seed Leylah Fernandez.
As a result of her unseeded status, she was a floater in this year’s field – and her name was drawn out next to world No.1 Iga Swiatek.
Almost everybody will favour Swiatek when she and Kenin clash in Tuesday’s opener at Rod Laver Arena. It’s a first-round match marking their only meeting since the 2020 Roland Garros final, also won by Swiatek.
But while Swiatek is currently riding a 16-match winning streak, it is Kenin who boasts the better record at Rod Laver Arena.
The AO 2020 winner has not lost at Melbourne Park’s premier court since 2019, when she fell in three sets to Simona Halep.
UNBEATEN STREAKS AT RLA: AO WOMEN'S CHAMPIONS
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Since then, Kenin won her 2020 quarterfinal, semifinal and final at RLA, plus the first match of her title defence in 2021 over Maddison Inglis.
She exited AO 2021 in the second round to Kaia Kanepi, but that loss came at Margaret Court Arena. Subsequent first-round defeats to Madison Keys (2022) and Victoria Azarenka (2023) occurred at John Cain Arena and MCA, respectively.
So, while Kenin is on a three-match losing streak at the Australian Open, she currently enjoys a four-match winning streak at Rod Laver Arena.
It’s the same story for AO 2016 champion Angelique Kerber, who has not lost at Rod Laver Arena since her spectacular 2018 semifinal against Halep.
Her four-match RLA win streak includes three wins in the first three rounds of 2019 – she exited in the fourth round to Danielle Collins at MCA – and a first-round win in 2020 over Elisabetta Cocciaretto.
Had Kerber converted the match points she held against Halep at 6-5, 40-15 in the third set of that 2018 semifinal, she would have won her past eight matches at RLA. Her last defeat on the court before that was her fourth-round loss to Coco Vandeweghe at AO 2017.
Kerber and Kenin have some way to go before they match the current unbeaten RLA records of two other women’s champions.
Two-time AO winner Naomi Osaka enters Monday night’s match against Caroline Garcia on an eight-match winning streak at Rod Laver Arena.
She last tasted defeat on this court against Coco Gauff, who beat her in a third-round night match in 2020. Osaka’s last AO loss, from match points up against Amanda Anisimova in 2022, happened at MCA.
On Sunday night, defending champion Aryna Sabalenka extended her RLA win-streak to nine matches with a 6-0 6-1 demolition of German qualifier Ella Seidel.
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Sabalenka’s last AO loss came in the 2022 fourth round to Kaia Kanepi; this match was originally scheduled for RLA before a late-evening switch to MCA.
Her last loss at Rod Laver Arena came in 2021 against Serena Williams – a phenomenal three-set tussle.
Currently, Novak Djokovic owns the best unbeaten run of any player at Rod Laver Arena.
The world No.1 improved his winning streak to 29 matches on Sunday night after a gritty four-set win over Croatian teen Dino Prizmic.
This is an Australian Open tournament record, which he set last year by surpassing Monica Seles’ previous best RLA winning streak of 26 matches (1991-1999).