By Rudra Biswas

Copyright sportskeeda

Match Details

Fixture: (27) Sofia Kenin vs Polina Kudermetova

Date: September 26, 2025

Tournament: China Open 2025

Round: Second Round (Round of 64)

Venue: National Tennis Center, Beijing, China

Category: WTA 1000

Surface: Outdoor hard

Prize Money: $8,963,700

Live Telecast: USA – Tennis Channel | UK – Sky Sports | Canada – TSN

Sofia Kenin vs Polina Kudermetova preview

2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin will face Russia’s Polina Kudermetova in the first round of this year’s China Open on Friday (September 26).

Kenin has been out of sorts with her game in the last few months, having dropped nine of her last 12 tour-level matches since the French Open in May. During this time, the former World No. 4 American’s WTA ranking has been stable, which has gone a long way in ensuring a top-32 seeding at the 2025 China Open.

The 26-year-old hasn’t gone past the third round of the 1000-level event in her past three main draw appearances (2019, 2023-24) and will be eager to go deep at the 1000-level event in Beijing this year. Having received a first-round Bye, she will take on World No. 76 Kudermetova, who reached her maiden WTA Tour final at the Brisbane International in January.

The 22-year-old, who is the younger sister of former World No. 9 Veronika Kudermetova, has unfortunately failed to impress since the above run, though, and even endured a 10-match losing streak midway through the 2025 season. That said, the Russian put her form issues behind her in fine fashion in her Beijing opener on Wednesday, downing Australia’s Maddison Inglis 7-5, 7-6(7) to reach the second round.

Sofia Kenin vs Polina Kudermetova head-to-head

Kenin and Kudermetova have never faced off on the WTA Tour so their head-to-head record is at 0-0.

Sofia Kenin vs Polina Kudermetova odds

All bets sourced from BetMGM.

Sofia Kenin vs Polina Kudermetova prediction

Kenin will likely be looking forward to making some amends for her recent lackluster results at the China Open, where the hardcourts are more suitable for her playing style. The World No. 26 is known for her aggressive groundstrokes that are devoid of topspin and height. For what it’s worth, while this tactic makes for entertaining viewing, it does make her vulnerable to uncharacteristic errors.

Not unlike her American opponent, Kudermetova also likes to attack from the baseline, with her down-the-line double-handed backhand being the biggest weapon in her arsenal. That said, even she struggles with low margin and consistency issues from the back of the court.

The keys to winning this match for both players will be to maintain a healthy winners-to-unforced errors ratio while also getting in a good first serve-in percentage. With the prospect of improving upon her tournament-best result in Beijing looming for Kenin, it is hard to not see her motivated for this match-up.

Pick: Kenin to win in three sets.