MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) – U.S. Open finalist Madison Keys is through to the fourth round of the Australian Open after starting Saturday’s program on Margaret Court Arena with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Ana Bogdan.
The 17th-seeded Keys, who lost in the U.S. Open final last year to Sloane Stephens, saved three break points serving for the match, finally clinching it on her first match point when Bogdan netted a backhand.
Keys missed last year’s Australian Open after undergoing surgery to repair her injured left wrist. She then played only one match after the U.S. Open before shutting down her season early to let the wrist heal. It’s helped her start the new season feeling mentally fresh, as well.
United States’ Madison Keys makes a backhand return to Romania’s Ana Bogdan during their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
“I finished the U.S. Open and I was exhausted,” she said. “So as amazing as that run was, the combination of being exhausted from that and having a wrist that still wasn’t 100 percent perfect, I just needed to kind of shut it down, calm down, and then I was really excited to start the new season.”
Keys is the only one of the four American women who reached the semifinals at the U.S. Open last September still in contention in Melbourne – Stephens, Venus Williams and CoCo Vandeweghe were all eliminated in the first round.
Keys will next play the winner of Saturday’s later match between Aliaksandra Sasnovich and eighth-seeded Caroline Garcia.
Sixth-seeded Karolina Pliskova had 11 aces and beat No. 29 Lucie Safarova 7-6 (6), 7-5 in a match featuring just one service break.
Top-seeded Simona Halep was playing No. 76-ranked Lauren Davis in the opening match on Rod Laver Arena.
The big match Saturday had the only two women’s major champions left in the tournament playing each other – 2008 Australian winner Maria Sharapova vs. 2016 Melbourne Park champion Angelique Kerber.
_____
More AP coverage: www.apnews.com/tag/AustralianOpen
Romania’s Ana Bogdan makes backhand return to United States’ Madison Keys during their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.