Kenin keeps cool to spoil Melbourne's Barty party

MELBOURNE－Sofia Kenin never flinched.

Not when she was twice a point from dropping the opening set of her first Grand Slam semifinal at the Australian Open. Not when she was twice a point from dropping the second set, either.

And now the American is into her first major final at age 21－and she beat the woman ranked No 1 to get there.

Kenin came back in each set to stop home hope Ash Barty's bid to give Australia a long-awaited singles champion at Melbourne Park and pull out a 7-6 (6), 7-5 victory on a stiflingly hot Thursday.

She will face Garbine Muguruza of Spain, who beat Romanian fourth seed Simona Halep, in Saturday's final.

The Spaniard, a two-time Grand Slam champion, reached her first Melbourne final with a tough 7-6(10), 7-5 victory at a hot Rod Laver Arena on Thursday.

"This really wasn't an easy one," said the 14th-seeded Kenin, who never had been past the fourth round at a major tournament until now.

This was not Barty's first foray onto this stage: She won the French Open last June, beating Kenin along the way.

But Barty was hardly at her best Thursday, especially at the most crucial moments, perhaps burdened by the task of trying to become the first Australian woman since 1980 to get to the final of the country's Grand Slam.

"Unfortunately, couldn't quite scrap enough to get over the line," said Barty, who held her niece on her lap at the post-match news conference. "Just didn't play the biggest points well enough to win."

Instead, Kenin is the first American other than a Williams sister to reach the Australian Open final since Lindsay Davenport in 1995.And Kenin is the first American woman to beat the No 1 player at any major since Serena topped Venus at Wimbledon in 2002.

"She has the ability to adapt,"Barty said. "She's extremely confident at the moment, as well."

Kenin, who was born in Russia and moved to Florida as a baby, burst onto the scene in 2019 by winning three singles titles, upsetting Serena Williams in the third round at Roland Garros, and soaring from No 52 to No 12 in the rankings.

She didn't face a seeded player in this tournament until Thursday, but did eliminate 15-year-old sensation Coco Gauff in the fourth round.

On Saturday, Kenin will go up against either No 4 Simona Halep or unseeded Garbiñe Muguruza. That pair of two-time major champions and former No 1s faced each other in Thursday's second semifinal.

"I'm not even going to look," Kenin said of Halep vs. Muguruza."I'm just going to relax and enjoy this moment. I'm just looking forward to the final."

In the men's semifinals, defending champion Novak Djokovic was scheduled to play Roger Federer for the 50th time on Thursday night, with No 5 Dominic Thiem meeting No 7 Alexander Zverev in a match-up between 20-somethings on Friday night.

Barty and Kenin stepped out in Rod Laver Arena in the early afternoon under a cloudless sky and a vibrant sun. The temperature topped 38 Celsius (100 Fahrenheit) in the first set, 10 to 15 (20 to 25) degrees hotter than it's been for much of a chillier-than-usual 1½ weeks so far at Melbourne Park.

"It was tough. I haven't played in this heat for two weeks, (but) I expected it today," Kenin said. "I'm from Miami. I'm used to this weather. The heat didn't bother me."

Barty braced herself by wearing an ice towel around her neck at changeovers.

In addition to making it uncomfortable for players and fans alike, the conditions caused balls to zip through the air and fly off rackets, rendering it that much harder to control shots. Add that to jitters and iffy footwork at times from both women, and neither was at their best for much of the opening set.

Barty's one-handed slice backhand was not as reliable as it normally is. Kenin's movement and groundstrokes seemed to lack their usual verve.

It took Kenin 43 minutes to register just one forehand winner, while 11 of her initial 14 points resulted from unforced errors by Barty.

By virtue of getting to the final, Kenin will climb into the top 10 in Monday's WTA rankings. One more win, and she'll achieve something even more significant: The right to call herself a Grand Slam champion.

"She deserves that respect," Barty said, "and she deserves the recognition."