fia Kenin reaches the second round at the Pan Pacific Open

TOKYO – Former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin extended her perfect record against Wang Xinyu, beating the 10th-seeded Chinese player 6-1, 6-4 in a first-round match at the Pan Pacific Open on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old American, who won the Australian Open in 2020 and was a French Open finalist the same year, won her fourth consecutive match against Wang. Her previous victories over Wang came twice at Wimbledon – in 2021 and 2023 – and last year in Auckland, New Zealand.

Kenin defeated Garbine Muguruza in the singles final of the Melbourne Park Grand Slam in 2020 and lost to Iga Swiatek in the French Open final a few months later.

Following her win at the Australian Open, she reached her highest ranking of No. 4, but a series of injuries in recent years saw her ranking slip to her current No. 155. She also had to withdraw from the 2021 US Open due to COVID 19.

Kenin was joined in the second round by Canadians Bianca Andreescu, who beat Serena Williams for the US Open title in 2019, and Leylah Fernandez, who won her opening games on Monday.

The highest seeded player in the Pan Pacific this year is Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen.