🎾 WTA Charleston: Kenin vs Pera – Match Preview

🎾 WTA Charleston: Kenin vs Pera – Match Preview

🧠 Form & Context

🟨 Sofia Kenin

• 🔥 Resurgent form: 18 wins in her last 28 matches, back inside the Top 50, and showing strong composure.
• 📍 Charleston woes: 0–6 in deep runs here; never beyond R2, including a R1 exit in 2024.
• ⚡ Recent highs: Finalist in Tokyo, QFs in Hobart, Hong Kong, and Dubai—playing with confidence and aggression.
• 💪 Time to shine: This could be the year she finally goes deep on Charleston’s green clay.

🟥 Bernarda Pera

• 🌿 Charleston memories: Breakthrough QF run here in 2018; 3R in 2023, R1 in 2021.
• 🔻 Form dip: Seven-match main draw losing streak since Auckland QF in January.
• 🧱 Clay skillset: Lefty baseline game with heavy spin can be tricky, but execution has faltered lately.
• 🎯 Needs a spark: Charleston has worked for her before—can it again?

🔍 Match Breakdown

Kenin is playing with purpose. Her backhand is precise, her movement sharper, and she’s reading the court well—especially in longer exchanges. If she maintains her momentum and footwork on green clay, she should control the pace.

Pera will rely on her lefty patterns and forehand spin to open the court, but her current form doesn’t suggest she’s ready to topple a locked-in Kenin. Unless she can drag the match into extended battles and frustrate Kenin early, the edge is clear.

🔮 Prediction

Pick: Kenin in straight sets

This is a new chapter for Kenin, who looks motivated to rewrite her Charleston story. Expect clean hitting and composed play to carry her through this opener.