Madison Keys Outlasted Sloane Stephens 4-6 6-2 7-5 to reach the second round as Belinda Bencic lost in Rome.
In a rematch from the 2017 US Open final Keys avenged her loss from then and last month’s defeat in Charleston to reach the second round in Italy.
In a topsy-turvy contest it was Stephens who took the opening set despite heading a break down early in the set.
A crucial break in the ninth game gave her the third break of the set as the Lucky Loser took the first set in 49 minutes.
In the second set Keys responded well, managing to dictate points more comfortably and despite losing the early break advantage broke Stephens in her last two return games to level the match at one set all.
Unlike the first two sets, it was Stephens who managed to break first as she won the opening game of the final set.
The pair then shared a combined three games in a row with Stephens losing her momentum and racking up more unforced errors as the final set was back on serve.
Both players then saved break points on there serve before Keys eventually pushed over the finishing line on her third match point to seal victory.
Despite victory, Keys’ 56 unforced errors doesn’t bode well for her second round match tomorrow against Roland Garros champion Iga Swiatek as the American will need to play a much cleaner match to make the last 16 in Rome.
In other results so far in Rome, Belinda Bencic crashed out in Rome after a 6-3 6-4 defeat to Kristina Mladenovic.
Despite a convincing win for Bencic over Mladenovic in Madrid, the doubles grand slam champion managed to control her game in a close match which saw Bencic lose all the close points and games.
Mladenovic will now play Petra Martic in the second round which has seen Serena Williams part of the draw open up nicely.
Speaking of Serena, her first match of the week will be against Nadia Podoroska after the Argentinian beat Laura Siegemund 2-6 7-6(3) 6-1.
Here are some of the other results so far on day two in Rome:
Yaroslava Shvedova def Martina Trevisan 0-6 7-6(4) 7-6(6)
Caroline Garcia def Elisabetta Cocciaretto 7-6(8) 6-2
Bernarda Pera def Tamara Zidansek 6-3 6-2
