Tennis News

BIRMINGHAM, England – Madison Keys won a rollercoaster encounter with Carla Suárez Navarro on Saturday to reach the Aegon Classic Birmingham final and also break into the Top 10 for the first time.

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On a chilly day Keys took a while to warm to the task at hand, Suárez Navarro making light of her arduous path to the semifinals to wrap up the first set. But as the contest wore on, Keys found her rhythm, leveling the match up before eventually triumphing, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(3).

“The first set was definitely a slow start for me. I felt like my energy was really low and not very positive,” Keys said. “So it was a big thing for me just to come out and really be a lot more positive and have a high level of intensity and energy. If I was able to do that, and she beat me anyways, then too good from her.

“I would have been really disappointed in myself had I not been able to kind of at least change what I could on my side of the net.”

After withstanding Suárez Navarro’s early onslaught, Keys looked to be coasting into the final when she broke for a 3-2 lead midway through the decider. With the final beckoning, though, Keys tightened, netting a backhand to surrender the advantage and take the contest into a tie-break.

The previous evening, Suárez Navarro elevated her game to another level to end defending champion Angelique Kerber’s reign in a third set tie-break. Against Keys she was unable to repeat the feat, sending a tired backhand into the net to finally succumb.

Keys’ reward for the turnaround is a place in the final, where she will meet either Barbora Strycova or CoCo Vandeweghe, and also a Top 10 debut. On Monday morning she will join compatriots Serena and Venus Williams in the Top 10 – it is the first time since 2005 that three Americans have been in the Top 10 simultaneously.

Click here for more stats on Keys’ rankings breakthrough.

“I’m really excited right now, but I’m also trying to stay focused on the final,” Keys said. “I haven’t even really put a ton of thought of being in the Top 10. That will definitely sink in after the tournament. I’m happy with it, but more focused on wanting to win the final tomorrow.”

BIMRINGHAM, Great Britain – 2014 finalist Barbora Strycova came back from a set and a break down to snap CoCo Vandeweghe’s grass court winning streak, defeating the American 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 to reach the final of the Aegon Classic Birmingham.

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Both players had a rough road to the semifinals, having to play their second round and quarterfinal matches on the same day due to the rain delays that wreaked havoc on the schedule earlier in the week.

Strycova, who’s also in the semifinals of doubles, perhaps faced a tougher task than most.

“I had three matches yesterday and I won all of them,” the Czech said after the match. “Physically it wasn’t easy. But it was the same for [Vandeweghe], she played two matches yesterday. Mentally it wasn’t easy as well, but I just managed to be a little bit better.”

Vandeweghe, who had been on an eight-match winning streak on grass, started off the match in top form and raced ahead to a 5-0 lead. She grabbed the first set 6-2, then earned an early break in the second set.

.@CoCoVandey races through the opening set vs Strycova 6-2! #AegonClassic https://t.co/tZaIjKHxUx

— WTA (@WTA) June 18, 2016

Staring down the barrel of Vandeweghe’s booming serve, Strycova dug her heels in and scratched out a break back to erase the American’s lead. From then, the Czech peppered her game with everything to frustrate Vandeweghe – hitting more drop shots and attacking the second serve – and turned the match completely around.

Vandeweghe’s most trusted weapon – her powerful serve – seemed to abandon her late in the match and she struck a double fault to go down a break once more in the third set.

After two hours and nine minutes, Strycova sealed her fourth match point with an ace, booking her spot in the final.

“It was a rollercoaster I have to say,” Strycova said. “Coco was playing really well in the first set and really fast, and I had to just hang in there.

“In the second set I just tried to win as many serves as I could and then it turned a little bit. I tried to fight every point I could and it turned to my side.”

Earlier in the day, Madison Keys, Strycova’s opponent in the final, clinched her debut into the WTA’s Top 10 by virtue of her win over Carla Suárez Navarro. However, Keys isn’t the only one who made a big ranking move today. Strycova moved up two spots to No.28 with her semifinal run, projected to reach No.22 if she takes home the title.

But first she’ll have to turn around a losing head to head record – it’s been almost two years since Strycova’s scored a win over Keys.

“In the last three weeks I lost to [Keys] twice, so I’ll just try to play the best tennis that I can and try to do something different to the previous matches,” Strycova added.

“It’s going to be such a different match though because it’s on grass.”

Second #AegonClassic Final for @BaraStrycova! ? https://t.co/crP6v2a3LH

— WTA (@WTA) June 18, 2016

MALLORCA, Spain – No.6 seed Caroline Garcia overcame a mid-match wobble against Kirsten Flipkens to make her way to the inaugural Mallorca Open final where she’s set to face Anastasija Sevastova for the title.

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It’s been an incredible few weeks for the on-the-rise Frenchwoman; she grabbed her first title of the year at Strasbourg, win the French Open doubles title with Kristina Mladenovic, and now here on the Spanish grass she’s into her second final of the year.

“When I arrived here I wasn’t expecting much because it’s normally very hard to reach the final in your first grass tournament of the year,” Garcia said. “I’ve just taken it match by match and slowly getting more confidence on the grass, even though still there’s things in the game that I want to improve.”

Garcia started out the match digging herself out of a 2-4 hole against Flipkens, whose game favors the faster surfaces. The Frenchwoman fired off four games in a row to snatch the first set away from the Belgian.

Despite Flipkens coming back to win the second 6-4, Garcia was in nearly impeccable form in the third. She rattled off five games in a row to take the match and advance 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.

“Every final is a new experience, but definitely the results give me more confidence,” Garcia said. “There is always tension and emotion but with experience I can manage it better and do my best tomorrow.”

Garcia’s opponent in the final had a dicy road to the inaugural Mallorca Open final. AnastasijaSevastova spent the night after her first-round win waylaid in the hospital after suffering a health scare.

“I had a stomach virus and after my first round, I started cramping and became dehydrated,” Sevastova told press ahead of her semifinal match. “I was fine during my match and for a little bit afterward. Then suddenly I started cramping and couldn’t stop.”

Sevastova spent the night in the hospital and was cleared to play the next day; she went on to beat Eugenie Bouchard and set up her semifinal clash with No.2 seed Jelena Jankovic.

Fully recovered from her opening round scare, Sevastova survived another one against Jankovic, who put her in a one-set deficit after 35 minutes. She settled her nerves and unleashed her flat groundstrokes and drop shots – aided in part by Jankovic’s own injury woes – to overturn the deficit and seal her comeback 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.

With the win, Sevastova makes her way into her first WTA final since 2010 at Oeiras.

“I don’t know really how to feel, I’m quite tired but I’m very happy,” Sevastova said. “It’s sinking in right now, but we’ll see how it goes. Tomorrow is another match – you can’t stop, you have to go on.”