After years of working with her father as coach, world No.4 Sofia Kenin is announcing that she’s “putting together a new technical team” and Alexander Kenin is no longer in the picture.
The decision comes after a slow start to the 2021 season for the 2020 Australian Open winner and Roland Garros runner-up. Playing this year’s Australian Open as a defending Grand Slam champion for the first time, Kenin succumbed to the pressure and lost in straight sets in the second round. That was the start of a bad series in which the American has lost five of her six most recent matches, so her YTD win-loss record is 7-7.
The 22-year-old wrote about the split on Instagram, sharing the Australian Open trophy photoshoot where she was posing with her dad:
This was not an easy decision for me as we shared many great moments together and had a lot of success. I will be forever grateful for my dad’s sacrifice and contributions towards getting me to where I am today.
In the message, Kenin also mentions that she can’t wait for her next tournament, the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome. The French Open starts May 30.
The news of Kenin’s split with her father comes just days after Caroline Garcia fired her father Louis Paul as coach. (photos: Jimmie48)
