Big-hitting American youngster Sofia Kenin reached her first WTA final when she stunned sixth seed Alize Cornet 6-2 6-4 at the Hobart International on Friday. In windy conditions, unseeded Kenin kept her composure to land 77 percent of her first-serves in play and broke her French opponent four times en route to a convincing victory. Cornet was Kenin’s third seeded victim of the tournament after recording upsets of top seed Caroline Garcia in the opening round and seventh seed Kirsten Flipkens in the quarter-finals. “I tried to just calm myself down, not get over excited and play one point at a time,” the 20-year-old Kenin said. “I’ve beaten a lot of top players this past week, so I’m really happy with the way I’m playing.” Kenin, who has not dropped a set this week, will meet Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in Saturday’s final after the Slovakian outlasted Swiss Belinda Bencic 7-6(2) 4-6 6-2 in a 2-1/2 hour encounter. The 24-year-old Schmiedlova fired 42 winners to move into her fifth career WTA final, where she will be seeking her fourth title. Published in Daily Times, January 12th 2019.