MY ACCOUNT
Fresh off her straight sets victory over world number one Iga Swiatek, unseeded American Madison Keys cruised through her quarter-final matchup against Elena Rybakina 6-2 6-4 at the Western & Southern Open on Friday.
Keys was too good in every area, landing 72 per cent of her first serves fair compared to just 47 per cent for Rybakina, leading to a 65 per cent (35-of-54) success rate on her service points.
She also created 13 break point opportunities, and won 50 per cent of her return points in a one-sided battle.
Keys will play Petra Kvitova in the semi-final in an all-unseeded showdown after the world number 28 defeated in-form Australian Ajla Tomljanovic 6-2 6-3.
Tomljanovic knocked out world number three Paula Badosa earlier in the week, but she was no match for the veteran Czech’s big serve, losing the ace count 12 to one, while only being able to save one of the six break points she faced.
Later in the night, Caroline Garcia’s exceptional form continued as she needed just 74 minutes to beat world number seven Jessica Pegula after the American stylishly handled Emma Raducanu yesterday.
France’s Garcia – who also collected a win over Swiatek last month – has now won 11 of her past 12 matches, and she will play the only seeded competitor remaining in the semi-final after Aryna Sabalenka had no issues with the challenge of Shuai Zhang 6-4 7-6 (7-1).
Sabalenka, the world number seven, won despite committing 12 double faults, as she was too powerful in her return game, winning 56 per cent of the points against Zhang’s serve.
