Wimbledon 2025: Sofia Kenin vs Taylor Townsend preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick

Match Details

Fixture: (28) Sofia Kenin vs (Q) Taylor Townsend

Date: July 1, 2025

Tournament: Wimbledon

Round: First Round (Round of 128)

Venue: All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, England

Category: Grand Slam

Surface: Grass

Prize Money: £53,550,000

Live Telecast: USA - Tennis Channel, ESPN | UK - BBC | Canada - TSN, RDS

Sofia Kenin vs Taylor Townsend preview

Sofia Kenin at the Berlin Tennis Open 2025. (Photo: Getty)

28th seed Sofia Kenin will take on qualifier Taylor Townsend in the first round of Wimbledon 2025.

Kenin's grass swing commenced at the Berlin Tennis Open. She scored wins over Erika Andreeva and Ajla Tomljanovic to book her spot in the main draw. She then lost to Rebeka Masarova in straight sets. Her woes continued at the Eastbourne Open with another first-round exit, losing 6-4, 6-4 to Kimberly Birrell on this occasion.

Outside of grass, a runner-up finish at the Charleston Open has been among Kenin's best results this year. She also made the last eight at the Dubai Tennis Championships, a WTA 1000 event. She lost in the first round of the Australian Open and reached the third round of the French Open.

Townsend's Wimbledon campaign got underway a week ago in the qualifying rounds. She beat compatriot Louisa Chirico 6-4, 6-2 in the first round. She faced Hina Inoue in the second round and scored a 6-3, 6-1 win against her. She was up against Celine Naef for a spot in the main draw, beating her 6-3, 6-3 to secure her place in the main draw.

Sofia Kenin vs Taylor Townsend head-to-head

Townsend leads their rivalry 1-0 in main draw matches at the WTA level. She won their previous match at the Charleston Open 2024 in straight sets.

Sofia Kenin vs Taylor Townsend odds

(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)

Sofia Kenin vs Taylor Townsend prediction

Taylor Townsend at the French Open 2025. (Photo: Getty)

Townsend has thrived in doubles this year, winning the Australian Open and reaching the French Open mixed doubles final. However, her singles results have taken a massive hit, with only two main draw wins to her name. She lost in the first round of the Australian Open and the French Open in singles.

Townsend came through the qualifying rounds of Wimbledon without dropping a set. Back-to-back second-round appearances in 2018 and 2019 remain her best result at the tournament.

Kenin hasn't won a main draw match on grass before arriving at this year's Wimbledon. She posted her best result at the tournament a couple of years ago, scoring an upset win over Coco Gauff en route to the third round.

Kenin's poor return of serve played a massive factor in her last two losses, creating only one break point opportunity in her previous two matches. Townsend has a pretty decent serve, though one wouldn't classify her as a servebot. The latter is pretty solid at the net, and could trouble her opponent with the serve and volley combo, a classic during the previous eras at Wimbledon.

However, Townsend's poor results in singles are hard to ignore. Even though Kenin is in the middle of her own mini-slump, she should be about to fight her way past her compatriot to reach the next round.

Pick: Sofia Kenin to win in three sets.

Edited by Rohit