Sofia Kenin ends Coco’s dream run at Australian Open

Sports

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA—Sofia Kenin stopped Coco Gauff’s latest Grand Slam run, beating the 15-year-old American 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-0 in the Australian Open’s fourth round on Sunday.

The 21-year-old Kenin, seeded 14th, reached her first major quarterfinal: “I want to show who I am, show my best tennis, show why I’m there, why I belong. I’m doing that.”

In her previous match, the 67th-ranked Gauff beat Naomi Osaka to become the youngest player in the professional era to defeat the reigning women’s champion.

Later, Wimbledon champion Simona Halep also advanced to the quarterfinals with a straight-sets win over Elise Mertens.

Halep appeared to be cruising after winning the first set and going up a service break in the second, but Mertens broke back to level the second set at 4-4. Halep responded by converting her fifth break-point chance in the next game and served out at love to clinch the match. Halep will play Anett Kontaveit, who beat 18-year-old Iga Swiatek 6-7 (4), 7-5, 7-5.

The No. 4-seeded Halep reached the Australian Open final in 2018 and won her first major title at the French Open that year.

On the men’s side, two-time French Open runner-up Dominic Thiem beat Gael Monfils 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals for the first time.

It was Thiem’s sixth consecutive victory over the French player, and made him the first player from Austria to make it to the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park since Stefan Koubek in 2002.

Thiem will play top-ranked Rafael Nadal or Nick Kyrgios on Wednesday. Thiem has lost the last two French Open finals to Nadal and is 4-13 in their career meetings.