It has been three and a half years since Sofia Kenin put both hands to her face and teared up in Melbourne. That night, she had just won the Australian Open at 21, highlighting to the world her ferocious will to fight for every point, every shot.
When her hands came down, she was not even smiling, her concentration apparently on maintaining composure as she soaked in the moment of a lifetime.
To this day, Kenin says, reflecting back on that triumph requires a bit of a mental blockade.
“I try not to think about it too much, because I might get a bit emotional,” she said on Thursday after her biggest win in over two years.