2 First Time Finalists Meet in the Australian Open Final

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It’s that time of year for avid tennis watchers and Grand Slam enthusiasts to tune into ESPN and the Tennis Channel and any station that will give them coverage of the Australian Open. The Australian Open is the first of four Grand Slam tournaments (the others: the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open) played each year. The games are played in Melbourne, featuring women’s and men’s singles; women’s, men’s, and mixed doubles; junior championships; as well as exhibition events and wheelchair events.

2020 has proved to be a great, and surprising, start to the new season of the game. We’ve seen young stars like 15-year-old Coco Gauff make it the 4th round in the tournament, the farthest she’s made it in a grand slam, after defeating defending champion 22-year-old Naomi Osaka of Japan. Gauff went on to lose to another US player, 21-year-old Sofia Kenin, seeded #14, who will be playing in the Grand Slam final come Saturday, February 1st. Kenin defeated #1 seed Ashleigh Barty, and Australian native, in her semi-final match.

Up against Kenin will be 26-year-old Gabriñe Muguruza, born in Venezuela, but representing Spain. Muguruza, an unranked player heading into the tournament, took down Simona Halep from Romania, seeded #4 in the semi-final round. The 2020 women’s final will bring with it two first time finalists. Neither Kenin nor Muguruza have ever made it this far in an Australian Open.

The two women have met before just once, Sofia Kenin winning 6-0, 2-6, 6-2; but as we’ve seen this past week, it seems player history has no place in this Grand Slam. The women’s game has been playing by it’s own rules as players newer to this world make a name for themselves on the court. I for one am excited to see which way this match will fall with two surprise finalists. Experts expect a battle to ensue come game time and I don’t know if you want to miss this one.

Head on over to ESPN to watch in the US, or check out the WatchESPN livestream coverage of the 2020 Australian Open.