Pro Media & News

Keys cruises into Rogers Cup final

McCarton Ackerman | July 30, 2016


No. 10 seed Madison Keys reached her third final of 2016 Saturday at the Rogers Cup in Montreal, wasting no time in ending the surprise run of qualifier Kristina Kucova in their semifinal match, 6-2, 6-1.

 

The final will be Keys' second at a WTA Premier event  – she lost to Serena Williams in Rome in May – and a Montreal title would register as the biggest her young career. Her previous two tour titles both came on grass, in Eastbourne in 2014 and in Birmingham earlier this year.

 

“It feels new just because I've never won this many matches consistently in a row," said Keys, 21. "But then it also feels like this is what I'm expecting of myself, going out and playing good tennis, but also when I'm not, being able to figure it out. That's the standard I've been setting for myself. Now that I'm going out and doing that, I've been really happy with it.”

 

Keys needed just 50 minutes to secure victory on Centre Court. She won 86 percent of her first-serve points and didn’t face a break point throughout the match. Keys was also far more effective from the baseline, winning 55 percent of her return points compared to just 21 percent for Kucova.

 

Keys will now face No. 5 seed Simona Halep for the title. Although Halep leads their head-to-head by 2-1, Keys won their only match on hard courts, in Sydney in January 2014.

 

The American is currently No. 12 in the WTA rankings but could surpass her career high of No. 9, set in June, with her performance this week.

 

Ed. Note: Halep defeated Keys, 7-6, 6-3, in the final.

TOURNAMENTS NEAR YOU


PROGRAMS NEAR YOU


Skip Advertisement

Advertisement

Related Articles