Madison Keys on Friday overcame some uncharacteristically poor serving and elevated her game late on to edge fellow American Sloane Stephens 7-6 (8/6), 4-6, 6-2 and advance to the semi-finals of the Volvo Car Open in Charleston, South Carolina.
Both players struggled with their serves in a match that included 13 breaks, but it was Keys who was able to cut down on the errors and step up the intensity in the third set, which she won when Stephens sent a backhand long.
The match on the green clay also featured a seesaw first-set tiebreaker, in which Keys jumped out to a 4-0 lead before Stephens stormed back with six straight points.
Photo: AP / The Post and Courier
Stephens failed to convert either of the two set points she had on her serve and Keys unleashed a blistering crosscourt forehand winner to capture the hour-long first set.
“It’s always tough to play a friend and it kind of shows at times like that,” Keys said of the wild first set tiebreaker. “It was up and it was down, and it was just kind of crazy.”
The win was a first for Keys over Stephens, who came out on top in their semi-final match up at last year’s French Open and in the 2017 US Open final.
Next up for Keys is Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig, who defeated American Danielle Collins 6-3, 6-2.
Former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki looked like she had fully recovered from an illness that sidelined her for two months earlier this year, playing nearly perfect tennis to down Maria Sakkari 6-2, 6-2.
Wozniacki, the 2011 champion in Charleston, smacked 15 winners to just eight unforced errors and looked particularly sharp returning serve, where she moved briskly and attacked Sakkari’s second serves.
The only hiccup came in the match’s 16-minute final game, in which Wozniacki needed five match points before she was able to break the young Greek’s service again to win the tie.
The fifth-seeded Dane will be a heavy favorite in her semi-final showdown against Petra Martic, who upset Belinda Bencic 6-3, 6-4 in the morning match.
Wozniacki has never dropped a set to the Croatian in five career meetings.
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