American Madison Keys pulls off win after being 1-5 down in the third set against Naomi Osaka; Wozniacki, Kerber also advance
Naomi Osaka and (right) Madison Keys celebrates her win over Japan’s Naomi Osaka in New York on Friday. Pic/AFP
New York: American Madison Keys left Naomi Osaka in tears after coming from behind to beat the 18-year-old and book her place in the US Open fourth round.
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Osaka led 5-1 in the final set in Arthur Ashe Stadium but the 18-year-old crumbled under the pressure as Keys roared back to win the match 7-5 4-6 7-6 (7/3).
Keys described it as the best comeback of her career and the eighth seed goes through to meet Caroline Wozniacki in the last 16.
“I think just because this is the biggest stage that I have done it on,” Keys said.
“I think I easily could have let a lot of emotions get in the way of being able to come back. Being able to kind of block out everything and just really fight through it and get back into the match, I was really proud of myself for that.”
For Osaka, however, this was a painful defeat, particularly as she was on the cusp of reaching her first grand slam fourth round.
Osaka gets nervous
The Japanese, ranked 81st in the world, admits she grew tense when trying to close out the match. “At 5-1 I was just very nervous,” Osaka said.
“I kind of wanted to close it out. I felt like I could rely on my serve at that point because I think she was serving at 5-1.
“It didn’t really bother me that she held serve at that time but it really started freaking me out when she was going 5-2, 5-3, 5-4, those times.”
Keys is considered a future major champion by many in the game and the 21-year-old will now play Wozniacki in her fifth consecutive major fourth round.
The pair have never met before at Tour level but Wozniacki has found form in New York, reaching the last 16 of a grand slam for only the second time since the start of 2015. The Dane, a finalist here in 2009 and 2014, eased past Romania’s Monica Niculescu 6-3 6-1.
“I have known Caroline for a while,” Keys said.
“She’s done well here. She’s going to be tough. It’s always interesting once you get to the fourth round because everyone has won matches and they’re feeling very confident.”
Inconsistent Wozniacki
Injuries and inconsistency have seen Wozniacki drop to 74th in the world rankings but the 26-year-old believes her time on the sidelines could also pay dividends at this stage in the year.
“I think I’m definitely more fresh than the other players probably at this point,” Wozniacki said.
Elsewhere, Roberta Vinci, the Italian seventh seed and runner-up to compatriot Flavia Pennetta in 2015, overcame a second set blip to defeat 21-year-old Carina Witthoeft 6-0, 5-7, 6-3.
In the last match of the day, second seed Angelique Kerber eased past American Catherine Bellis 6-1, 6-1.
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