By Chris Oddo | Saturday May 14, 2016
Madison Keys rolled past Garbine Muguruza and into her biggest clay-court final in Rome on Saturday.
Photo Source: Matthew Lewis/Getty
Madison Keys, dirt demon.
The sentence isn’t the first that comes to mind when one searches for ways to describe the plight of the 21-year-old American on red clay, but this week in Rome Keys has far exceeded expectations in reaching her second clay-court final. She has reeled off five impressive wins, two of which came against the Top-10, to take her place in the final where she awaits Serena Williams in the final.
“I usually don't do great here,” Keys said on Friday of her run in Rome. “And so, you know, putting a couple wins together felt really good. I'm not going to jinx it. But, yeah, it feels like I'm kind of figuring it out just a little bit better. From there, you know, I'm putting more points together and kind of putting it all together a little bit better than before.”
Clearly the jinx was not in effect on Saturday as Keys rolled past bona fide clay-courter Garbine Muguruza in straight sets, 7-6(5), 6-4.
Each set was very tight, but it was Keys who showed more poise in the big moments. After a back-and-forth first set saw a trade of breaks a several rain delays, Keys came through with two stunning backhands to grab the tiebreaker. She hit a defensive backhand on the run to take a 6-4 lead in the breaker. On the play, Muguruza had a look at the open court while rushing the net but elected to take her backhand crosscourt right to where Keys was standing. The American made no mistake, and on her second set point she walloped a backhand down the line winner to claim the set.
“The first set was a struggle,” Keys said. “We were both serving really well, and it's always tough when you're starting and stopping and things like that.”
In a very tense second set Keys continued to impress with her forehand, which was a constant source of winners for her.
A constant source of frustration for Muguruza was her inability to hit the mark with her second serve. She tossed in eight double-faults on the day including a crucial one that gave Keys the only break point of the second set. On the ensuing point the American broke critically after a Muguruza forehand sailed wide to take the 4-3 lead.
A rain delay temporarily interrupted Keys at 5-4, 30-15 as she served for the match but Keys picked up right where she left off to clinch the match in one hour and 42 minutes.
“It feels so good,” said Keys. I'm really, really happy. You know, I'm just really happy that I'm kind of finding my form a little bit before the French Open, and, you know, hopefully I can continue tomorrow and walk out with a very big smile.”