CHAIRMAN: DR. KHALID BIN THANI AL THANI
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: PROF. KHALID MUBARAK AL-SHAFI

Sports / Tennis

Keys joins American march into US Open fourth round

Published: 03 Sep 2017 - 11:41 am | Last Updated: 14 Nov 2021 - 11:55 am
 Madison Keys of the United States celebrates match point against Elena Vesnina of Russia during their third round Women's Singles match on Day Six of the 2017 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 2, 2017 in the Flushin

Madison Keys of the United States celebrates match point against Elena Vesnina of Russia during their third round Women's Singles match on Day Six of the 2017 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 2, 2017 in the Flushin

By Julien Pretot / Reuters

NEW YORK: Roared on by a raucous crowd as the rain tapped on the closed roof of Arthur Ashe Stadium, Madison Keys claimed a 2-6 6-4 6-1 win over Russian Elena Vesnina in the early hours of Sunday to reach the fourth round of the U.S. Open.

In a match that ended at 1:46 a.m. local time (0546 GMT), the 15th-seeded American recovered from a woeful start to down 17th seed Vesnina and set up a meeting with Elina Svitolina.

Svitolina downed local favourite Shelby Rogers 6-4 7-5 but there will still be five Americans in the women's last 16, with Venus Williams, Sloane Stephens, Jennifer Brady and CoCo Vandeweghe also through.

Brady battled to a 6-3 4-6 7-6(3) defeat of Monica Niculescu, while Vandeweghe beat 10th seed Agnieszka Radwanska 7-5 4-6 6-4.

Keys shrieked a long 'come on!' when Vesnina buried a shot into the net on the second match point.

"You guys were amazing, I definitely did not show up very well for the first set but you helped me get back into the match, thank you for helping me through that one," Keys told the crowd.

"I think I finally settled in after being a bit over-amped at the start. Who doesn't love a late show?"