Sofia Kenin Discusses Removing Her Father From Coaching Team

Last week, Sofia Kenin dropped the news that she will no longer have her father, Alexander, on her coaching team going forward.

Kenin’s Dad led Sofia to a breakout 2020 which saw her win the Australian Open then make the French Open final in October in her last event of the year.

This season, has been a different story. The 22-year-old who is ranked as the No. American is just 7-7 on the year with no semifinal appearances. She goes into Rome having lost three straight and five of her last six. She also had to undergo an emergency appendectomy in Melbourne.

On Instagram last week, she posted the news of the breakup:

“Hi everyone, I wanted to let everyone know that after many years together I have decided to part ways with my father as my coach. 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. I am excited for what the future holds and look forward to putting together a new technical team in the coming weeks ahead. I can’t wait to get back on the court next week in Rome:)”

Yesterday in Rome, she talked more about the change.

“Obviously it was a difficult decision,” Kenin said Sunday. “It wasn’t easy. I give him credit to everything that he’s done. We have had great success together. As I said, it was a difficult decision, but I felt that we both kind of agreed that it was time to part ways.

“So far it’s going good,” she said. “I feel like this was the right decision for me and I’m excited to see what’s gonna happen next.

“Iin terms of Rome and Paris I’m having my agents here, my agent is here, and they will be there in Paris. I cannot really make any plans or anything. It’s going to take time for me to figure out what I want, how I want things to be. It’s just a matter of waiting the process and finally just, you know, enjoying myself back on court again.”

The news comes as Kenin has a big final defense in Paris in a few weeks. And there’s no word on any replacement.

“I’m not going to put pressure on myself. There’s not going to be any tears or anything,” Kenin said. “It’s going to be very calm, very laid-back tournament hopefully. I’m obviously going to be feisty on the court and try to do my best.

“This whole process, these changes are quite emotional, so I have to be the one to decide how I want it to be and when I want it to be. We’re all enjoying, we are going to enjoy and have fun and have some fun off court.

“I haven’t been speaking with anyone in terms of this. I feel like it’s my business, between me and my family, my agents.”

This week in Rome, Kenin could see a rematch with Iga Swiatek in the third round, Elina Svitolina in the quarters and Ash Barty in the semifinals. Not an easy draw.

“I feel like I’m playing well. I feel well. I’m moving well. Everything is going well for me,” she said.

“Obviously this year hasn’t been the best but it’s obviously not the worst. Definitely I feel with more matches, I’m the type of player I win a match or few matches, then I get confidence right away and then I play better and better.

“That’s how it was in Paris. I think I had two matches I won, I don’t know how I won it, it was crazy, dramatic and everything, but slowly found my rhythm and played really well. I think it’s just a matter of matches and then confidence will come with matches.”

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