Analysis: Sofia Kenin first to be aced 300+ times in 2025, exposes herself with shocking returning stats

Sofia Kenin has the unfortunate record for being the most aced player in 2025. The American is the first player in the WTA to be aced over 300 times in main draws this campaign, which is made even worse when you realise the player next in the list has not even made it to the 200 mark.

Kenin, who is currently the 29th-ranked player in the world, was defeated in her opening game at the Cincinnati Open by French qualifier Varvara Gracheva 6-7, 6-3, 6-2. Gracheva failed to take five break points in the opening set, as it eventually went to a tiebreak. The former number four in the world took her third set point and moved one away from a place in the round of 32.

Despite this, Gracheva fought back in the second set, which only saw three holds of serve. Two important breaks at the end of the set saw the French woman level the tie up, before she won four of the opening five games in the third set, giving her a commanding lead. She took her first match point to put her through and dump the former Australian Open champion out.

Kenin has had a miserable time in singles recently, losing in the opening round in Berlin, Eastbourne, Montreal and now Cincinnati, with second-round exits cropping up in Roland Garros, Wimbledon and Washington. A big reason for this has been her returning skills are very under-par, which has led to balls wizzing past her becoming the norm over the last year.

Why has Kenin been aced more than anyone else?

In her most recent defeat, Kenin was aced 15 times by Gracheva, a hefty amount of aces given away in one match. Not only that, but this is the first time Gracheva has ever reached double digits in a single match. In Washington, her opponent, Taylor Townsend, got an ace in almost 40% of the times she served. She has played four singles ties in the North American hardcourt swing, and has only managed to keep the ace tally of her opponent below double digits once.

This is starting to become a worringly repetitive trend for the American. She has conceded more aces in one match, with the most coming back in Auckland against Clara Tauson, who fired in 26 aces. Kenin is trying to do something about this, but revealed that if she is winning, then it does not matter that she is getting aced. She told Ben Rothenberg: “I obviously look at the stats, so I’m like, ‘Damn it, not something I like to see!’ But I’m hoping to win the match. If I win the match, then that’s fine if they’re acing me.”

The problem is that she is not winning matches, and her returning has been the biggest flaw in this. According to Tennis Abstract, Kenin has an ace rate of 11.2%. This leads to her being aced over once every ten serves. Shockingly, the next highest is Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who has a 6.6% rate. For more context, Naomi Osaka is the best server on the tour, with her finding 9.5% of her points from aces. This is below whoever Kenin's opponent is, with it sitting at 10.8%.

A big reason for this abysmal stat is her inconsistency when waiting for a serve. Recently, she has tended to favour a gung-ho approach where she would try to anticipate which side the ball would go. If wrong, her opponent just needs to find the service box for an easy point. Adding to that, her positioning has come under scrutiny. She has been standing way too close to the baseline, giving her less time to position, prepare and react to the oncoming serve.

In conclusion, Kenin needs to change her returning tactics. If this continues, more players will start exploiting this even more, leading to the ace tally against the Americans rising to new heights. Just doing something as simple as adjusting her position on the baseline could lead to much more positive results.