In a match that started just before midnight, recently crowned Stanford champion Madison Keys defeated Indian Wells winner Elena Vesnina 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 under the closed Arthur Ashe roof.
With this win, Keys, the 15th seed, advances to the round of 16, where she’ll face No. 4 seed Elina Svitolina, who has won three WTA Premier 5 events this year.
What a record to hold 😴 https://t.co/5Kd9MEYlJ2
— Madison Keys (@Madison_Keys) September 3, 2017
Keys went down 30-40 in the first game of the match, but served an ace up the T to make it deuce. Vesnina then earned another break point, which she won when Keys netted a forehand. Vesnina consolidated by winning a 15-point game. She then broke again for 3-0 on a Keys-shanked forehand.
In the next game, Vesnina, after saving two break points, double-faulted on Keys’s AD. Keys then held to love, keeping the set close with Vesnina leading by 3-2 and only one break.
But Vesnina later broke again for 5-2 on a bad Keys backhand. The Russian went on to put the set away with a forehand winner.
“I definitely didn’t show up very well for the first set,” Keys said on court after the match.
To start Act II, Keys fought off a break point with an ace. At 1-1, she saved four more break points, the second with an ace out wide and the third with a crosscourt backhand winner.
Keys then broke Vesnina by making her miss a backhand volley, and, in the game that followed, battled back from 15-40 for a 4-1 lead. Vesnina put the set back on serve, though, holding and then breaking by lobbing Keys from her backhand.
Loblena.
— David Kane (@DKTNNS) September 3, 2017
Vesnina, serving from down 4-5, saved a set point, but immediately afterward handed Keys another one, which she lost by netting a forehand. This gave Keys the second set and forced a decider.
“I think finally just settled in,” Keys said of the start of her comeback.
In the third set, Keys got out to a 5-0 lead before Vesnina finally managed to get a game.
.@Madison_Keys is taking control in her @usopen R3 match against Vesnina pic.twitter.com/6TmHCAxgkD
— Jimmie48 Photography (@JJlovesTennis) September 3, 2017
Up 5-1, Keys had a match point, but lost it by letting a backhand go long. But she set up another match point with a forehand winner down the line. This time, she won it when Vesnina netted a backhand.