American seed No.14 Sofia Kenin fended off two set points in both sets to edge top-ranked Ashleigh Barty 7-6(6) 7-5 and reach her first Grand Slam final at the Australian Open.
The first set featured no break points at all and Kenin managed to win it despite having worse winners-to-unforced-errors differential, -4 to Barty’s +1.
The first player to go up a break in the second set was Barty and the Australian held the advantage throughout the set before surrendering it when attempting to serve it out at 5-4 40-15. After leveling, the 21-year-old Kenin confidently held serve and broke Barty in the following game to advance to the title match and ensure a Top 10 ranking debut.