Madison Keys charges into semis at Western & Southern Open
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[August 20, 2022] Madison
Keys is making a strong run at winning the Western & Southern Open
for the second time in her career after recording a 6-2, 6-4 win
over Elena Rybakina in Friday's quarterfinal match at Mason, Ohio.
The 27-year-old Illinois native struck 21 winners to beat the
Wimbledon champion from Kazakhstan just one day after eliminating
top-seeded Iga Swiatek of Poland.
Keys will face Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in the
semifinals. Kvitova beat Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic 6-2, 6-3 in
her quarterfinal match.
Keys, who won the Cincinnati-area event in 2019, set the tone
against Rybakina by winning the first four games of the 91-minute
match.
In the second set, she lost the first two games before winning the
next five to take control.
"I knew she is a remarkable player and she can turn it around at any
moment so I knew I had to try to stay out in front because at any
moment, she can go on a roll," Keys said.
"I think that is kind of the key against her. If you back off at all
then she gets to dictate and run you around."
Rybakina had just 11 winners and committed 25 unforced errors. Keys
had 16 miscues.
Meanwhile, Kvitova registered 29 winners while disposing of
Tomljanovic in 73 minutes.
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The two-time Wimbledon champion had a 12-1 edge in
aces while cruising to the easy win.
Kvitova has reached the semifinals of this event twice previously
(2012, 2018) but lost both times.
She played Keys last year in the first round and prevailed 7-5, 6-4.
The two have split eight previous meetings and Kvitova knows the
stakes will be high on Friday.
"I think this is much, much better to play in the semis," Kvitova
said. "I think she's really on fire. I love how Madison is playing.
"I think she is really playing very beautiful. It's nice to see her
in the semis, for sure. Unfortunately I'm playing her, but we will
see tomorrow."
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Sixth-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus advanced
with a 6-4, 7-6 (1) victory over China's Shuai Zhang.
Sabalenka overcame 12 double faults to claim the victory in one
hour, 49 minutes. She had seven aces while Zhang had three.
Sabalenka's semifinal opponent will be France's Caroline Garcia, who
upset seventh-seeded Jessica Pegula of the United States 6-1, 7-5.
Garcia saved both of the break points she faced, and she won 80
percent of the points on her first serve.
Garcia is in search of her third tournament championship in three
months, having prevailed in Bad Homburg, Germany, and Warsaw,
Poland, in June and July.
--Field Level Media
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