WIMBLEDON, England—Sofia Kenin used to be the up-and-coming American, the one who was a Grand Slam champion at age 21, the one who beat a teenage Coco Gauff on the way to that trophy, the one who right afterward broke into the Top 10 in the WTA rankings, then soon made another run to a major final.
After all of that came a series of health issues—a lingering foot injury, a bout with COVID-19, a right ankle problem—and three first-round exits in a row at major tournaments, all of which added up to a slide down the rankings. Coming into Wimbledon, Kenin was ranked 128th, so low she needed to go through three qualifying rounds just to get into the main draw, where she was placed in the bracket against none other than Gauff….