Teens Rock at Red Rock Open

Kenin (Photo: Red Rock Open)

SUMMERLIN (Sept. 30, 2016) – Junior tennis rivals and fellow 17-year-olds Sonya Kenin and Fanni Stollar are each one victory away from a meeting in the final at the eighth annual Red Rock Pro Open being played at the Red Rock Country Club.

In the quarterfinals on Friday, Kenin, a USTA wild card from Pembroke Pines, Fla., took three sets to beat former USC All-American Maria Sanchez, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, while tournament qualifier Stollar of Budapest, Hungary, won her sixth match in six days, taking care of Las Vegas’ Jovana Jaksic, 6-2, 7-5.

Kenin will face 19-year-old Nadia Podoroska Argentina at 11 a.m. in one semifinal, while Stollar will play top-seeded Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium in a semifinal match to follow.

Alison Van Uytvanck (Photo: Red Rock Open)

“I knew she had a good serve so I was focused on my return,” said Kenin, who beat Sanchez in their only other career meeting, also in three sets, two years ago in qualifying at the Albuquerque, N.M., $75,000 Challenger when Kenin was just 15 years old. “She’s a pretty aggressive player so I knew I had to move her around and control the points.”

Kenin, who is still an amateur and has not turned pro, won her first $25,000 ITF pro tournament in Florida in January, and won the $50,000 Sacramento Challenger in July.

Kenin won the USTA Pro Circuit Wild Card Challenge to earn a wild card into this year’s US Open, where she faced eventual finalist Karolina Pliskova in the first round. As a junior player, Kenin reached the singles final at the 2015 US Open Junior Championships, the semifinals of this year’s junior US Open and the quarterfinals of 2016 junior Wimbledon. She also won the 2015 USTA Girls’ 18s national title to earn a wild-card berth into the US Open women’s singles draw for her first Grand Slam main draw.

In the doubles final set for Sunday at 11 a.m., it will be American Jamie Loeb and Chanel Simmonds of South Africa against Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands and Sanchez.

Friday’s Quarterfinal Singles Scores

wc: wild card; q: qualifying;

Sonya Kenin (U.S.) [wc] def. Maria Sanchez (U.S.) [wc], 6-2, 3-6, 6-1

Nadia Podoroska (Argentina) def. Sachia Vickery (U.S.) [8], 6-1, 6-2

Alison Van Uytvanck (Belgium) [1] def. Taylor Townsend (U.S.) [6], 6-1, 6-4

Fanni Stollar (Hungary) [q] def. Jovana Jaksic (Serbia), 6-2, 7-5

Friday’s Semifinal Doubles Scores

Jamie Loeb (U.S.) / Chanel Simmonds (South Africa), def. Jovana Jaksic, (Serbia) / Taylor Townsend (U.S.), 6-4, 6-4

Michaella Krajicek (Netherlands) / Maria Sanchez (U.S.) def. Elise Mertens (Belgium) / Mandy Minella (Luxemboug), [3], 6-3, 7-5

Saturday’s Semifinal Singles Schedule

Starting at 11 a.m. on Stadium Court

Sonya Kenin (U.S.) [wc] vs. Nadia Podoroska (Argentina)

Fanni Stollar (Hungary) [q] vs. Alison Van Uytvanck (Belgium) [1]

The tournament’s official website is www.RedRockProOpen.com.  Follow along on Twitter @RedRockTennis and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/redrockproopen.

–S. Pratt, Red Rock Open