LONDON – Madison Keys has precious memories of Eastbourne International, where she won her first WTA title, so it was no surprise that she was thrilled on Friday when she made it to her second final.
The American, however, had to shrug off an injury scare before upsetting compatriot Coco Gauff with a straight-set win.
The 2014 champion, who slipped and fell in the midst of the second set, recovered well to clinch a 6-3, 6-3 victory against her world No. 7 opponent at a windy Devonshire Park.
It was also the 24th top-10 victory of her career, as she saw out the match in 1hr 21min, levelling her head-to-head record with Gauff at two wins apiece.
“I’ve had a little bit of a not-great year so far, so being able to make a final here where I won my first title is amazing,” the 28-year-old, who is ranked 25th in the world, said in her on-court interview.
“It’s definitely 10 times more difficult when you have to play Coco and then you throw in hurricane winds on top of it.
“I’m very happy that I was able to have a not-incredibly complicated match and get the win. I’m really looking forward to the final tomorrow.”
Things are looking good for Keys, the former US Open runner-up who earlier on Friday was drawn to face British wild card Sonay Kartal in the first round of Wimbledon, which starts on Monday.
Her win over Gauff was in fact her first grass-court win over a top-10 player since she beat Angelique Kerber to win the 2014 Eastbourne title aged just 19.
Keys will be hoping to win her seventh WTA title and she will be up against ninth seed Daria Kasatkina, who beat unseeded Camila Giorgi 6-2, 7-5 in the other semi-final.
Elsewhere, world No. 1 Iga Swiatek suffered a Wimbledon scare when she was forced to withdraw from her Bad Homburg semi-final with suspected food poisoning.
“I’m so sorry but I have to pull out of my match today. I had a restless night because of some fever and possible food poisoning,” the Polish star wrote on Instagram.
“I’m not able to perform today and I need to take care of myself. I hope I’ll be fine soon. Your support in Bad Homburg was amazing, thank you.”
The US Open and three-time French Open champion was due to face Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti in the semi-finals of the German grass-court event.
The 22-year-old will now focus on recovering in time to play at Wimbledon, where she is a big favourite alongside defending champion Elena Rybakina.
Swiatek is due to face China’s Zhu Lin in the first round at the All England Club, where she has yet to get past the last 16. AFP, REUTERS
