Madison Keys In Fine Form Ahead Of US Open

Madison Keys at the Western and Southern Open tennis tournament in 2019
Madison Keys at the Western and Southern Open tennis tournament in 2019. Photo by Amy Harris/Shutterstock (10364723ax)

10th ranked WTA player Madison Keys goes into the US Open with confidence, after being crowned champion of the Western & Southern Open. This WTA Premier Tournament based out of Cincinnati, Ohio saw Keys face a tough draw that certainly gave her ample practice ahead of the upcoming Grand Slam.

The round of 64 saw the American come up against Spain’s Garbine Muguruza, a former French Open and Wimbledon champion. The tight match ended with a score of 6-7 7-6 6-4 with Keys being pushed to the limit for the result. Again, Keys came up against top opposition in the Round of 16 in the form of 4th ranked Romanian Simona Halep. This outing resulted in a 6-1 3-6 7-5 win for the 10th ranked American.

On Saturday, the 17th of August, Keys faced a challenge of unparalleled magnitude, namely having to play both her quarter-final and semi-final matches in one day. Her quarter-final clash with Venus Williams resulted in a routine 6-2 6-3 win, while her semi-final match against fellow American Sofia Kenin ended in a tight 7-5 6-4 victory.

Having already moved mountains, Keys came up against an in-form Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final, winning the clash 7-5 7-6 after a close tiebreak. This tournament win saw Keys rise eight spots in the WTA Rankings to 10th place, placing her in reach of her career-best ranking of 7th.

I am a reality TV junkie. My dream since I was a kid was to be on Big Brother, but until then you can catch me binge-watching episodes each summer.