ROME -- The phrase “fighter” is probably applied to professional tennis players far more than it should be. They are paid to win, and grinding/fighting/battling is a necessary part of the process.

For Sofia Kenin, Friday's win underscored just that. The 25-year-old American earned a hard-fought win over one of the crowd favorites, Ons Jabeur. Down a break in the third set, Kenin came back to win 7-5, 2-6, 6-4. Technically, it was an upset win for the No.58-ranked player on the Hologic WTA Tour over a Top 10 opponent. But in retrospect, she didn’t feel like she was the underdog.

Even though Kenin started the year with eight consecutive losses -- nearly four months of simmering frustration -- and has now won back-to-back matches for the first time since last September. For shot-making, power and consistency, she was -- at the very least, Jabeur’s equal. That’s fighting.

“I’m feeling great, happy with the way I played,” Kenin told reporters afterward. “Definitely, I feel like I’ve come a long way. It’s going in the right direction. I feel like the hard work is paying off. The fact that I’m still fighting.”

Maybe feisty is a better word to describe Kenin. When rain marred that first-round match against Bronzetti, it was Kenin who implored the officials -- with a few choice, colorful words -- to stop play. A few points later, they took the players off the court.

Kenin’s backhand was firing all day -- she even unleashed a few Jabeur-quality drop shots -- and, in the end, was better in the bigger moments. Wang Xinyu, with 66 winners, is the only player here so far with more than Kenin’s 57. Jabeur, too, showed some resolve, saving three match points before one last sharply angled backhand zipped in for a winner.

There’s something about this matchup that Jabeur doesn’t like; she’s now lost five of six WTA main-draw meetings with Kenin, your 2020 Australian Open champion. Those five wins by Kenin are her most against any player.

This was significant because it was Kenin’s first Top 10 win since last year’s Wimbledon, when she stunned Coco Gauff. It was her third Top 10 win on clay, following 2019 Roland Garros (Serena Williams) and Rome 2023 (Aryna Sabalenka).

It was also her sixth main-draw win in Rome, her most in a WTA 1000 event. What is it about Foro Italico that so agrees with her?

“I love the surface, the courts here,” Kenin said. “I feel like they’re slow, which suits my [favorite] conditions. There’s no altitude [like Madrid], which I love. I feel like I’m very comfortable here.”

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Meanwhile, Danielle Collins -- another feisty American -- continued her torrid play, advancing to the third round on Friday when Anna Blinkova retired with a left ankle injury after losing the first set 6-4.

Collins, a 30-year-old American, has announced her retirement at the end of the year but stands No.4 in the Race to the WTA Finals, behind Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka.

Since losing to Swiatek at Indian Wells, Collins fashioned a 15-match in streak that included a WTA 1000 title in Miami and a 500 victory in Charleston. The run ended in Madrid when Sabalenka beat her in the Round of 16, but Collins has won 16 of her past 17 matches -- and nine of 10 on clay.

Next up for the No.13 seed: No.22 Caroline Garcia, who knocked off Elisabetta Cocciaretto in straight sets.

After beating Lucia Bronzetti in the first round, Kenin said that she felt everything was on the verge of clicking in her game.

“I’m looking forward,” she said, “to playing my next matches.”

She clearly used the plural -- even though at that point she had yet to play even two matches at the same venue this year. Now she’s got a guaranteed third. On Sunday it’s the winner of the later match between Slovakian qualifier Rebecca Sramkova and No.26 seed Katie Boulter of Great Britain. 

Kenin thought she might be doing some “touristy” things this weekend but, “I’m in the tournament, so … It’s not a problem to have.”

The itinerary: Trevi Fountain, the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican, the Spanish Steps. Maybe some retail therapy?

“It has been a good shopping destination,” Kenin said. “If I do well, maybe I can get a little clutch or something.”