On Wednesday at the US Open, America’s Madison Keys gave an outstanding performance by defeating Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova. Keys, who advanced to the US Open final in 2017, showed excellent focus while playing, winning 6-1, 6-4 at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in just one hour and 26 minutes.
The 17th seed from the United States, Keys, will now meet the second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus in the semi-finals on Thursday, where a prized position in the championship game is on the line.
The Czech Republic's ninth-seeded Vondrousova, who created history by becoming the first unseeded woman to win Wimbledon in July, was left bemoaning the fact that she was unable to capitalize on any of her nine break points against Keys.
Keys, on the other hand, took advantage of every chance that came her way and converted all three break opportunities to advance to the semi-finals of a Grand Slam for the sixth time in her career. Keys emphasized how she was able to overcome Vondrousova's nine break point attempts in part because of the boisterous home crowd's backing.
"I love playing here, in front of a home crowd -- you never feel like you can't get out of any situation," remarked Keys, who had made the strategic decision to maintain an aggressive approach against Vondrousova.
Reflecting on her upcoming semi-final clash with Sabalenka, whom she was defeated by in straight sets during the Wimbledon quarter-finals in July, Keys anticipated an intense battle characterized by powerful shots and shorter points.
"It's going to be a lot of hard-hitting, not a lot of long points. I'm just going to buckle up and get as many balls back as I can." Keys said.
Vondrousova, on the other hand, acknowledged that she found it difficult to handle the overwhelming strength of Keys' groundstrokes and serve. She acknowledged the severity of the scenario and highlighted her sense of pressure from the first point of the match, adding, "I felt like I was under so much pressure from the first point. There wasn't so much to do, honestly. It was very tough. I was just trying to fight, run for every ball. She was just too good." Vondrousova added.
By breaking Vondrousova's serve twice in the opening set, Keys got the match off to an explosive start and built a dominating 4-0 lead. In the fifth set, Keys faced three break points but was able to hold serve and increase her lead to 5-0. Vondrousova won one point to make the score 5-1, but Keys quickly ended the set.