Madison Keys shrugged off an harm scare to progress to her second Eastbourne remaining by upsetting fellow American Coco Gauff with a straight-sets win on the Rothesay International.
The 2014 champion, who suffered a nasty slip in the course of the second set, triumphed 6-3 6-3 towards the world No.7 at a blustery Devonshire Park.
Former US Open runner-up Keys had earlier on Friday been drawn to face British wildcard Sonay Kartal within the first spherical of Wimbledon.
She will tackle Russian Daria Kasatkina, who overcame Italy’s Camila Giorgi within the different last-four conflict, in Saturday’s remaining.
“I’ve had a little bit of a not great year so far, so being able to make a final here where I won my first title is amazing,” the 28-year-old world No.25 mentioned in her on-court interview.
“It’s definitely 10 times more difficult when you have to play Coco and then you throw in hurricane winds on top of it.
“I’m very blissful that I used to be in a position to have a not extremely difficult match and get the win. I’m actually wanting ahead to the ultimate tomorrow.”
Gauff, who defeated doubles partner Jessica Pegula to reach the semi-final, looked poised to stage a comeback.
However, after breaking serve in the first game of the second set, the 19-year-old blew a 40-0 lead and then hit a remarkable three double faults in a row at advantage to allow her opponent to level at 2-2.
Unseeded Keys was left holding her hip following a painful fall in the next game but recovered sufficiently to progress in an hour and 21 minutes.
“I simply took a slip and my hip went within the route it should not have gone in,” she said. “Hopefully it is high quality for tomorrow.”
World No.11 Kasatkina dug in to see off Giorgi in Friday’s second semi-final, progressing 6-2 7-5.
The 26-year-old, playing her first tournament in Britain since 2021 following last year’s ban on Russian and Belarusian players, breezed through the opening set in just over half-an-hour.
Yet she was pressured to carry off a fightback in a decent second after Giorgi battled again from 4-1 right down to stage at 5-5.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
