The American Madison Keys, 17th in the world and finalist in 2017, qualified for the quarter-finals of the US Open on Monday by dominating her compatriot Jessica Pegula (3rd) and will face the Czech Marketa Vondrousova (9th) for a place in the last square.
Keys, who had not passed the round of 16 at Flushing Meadows since his half in 2018, dismissed Pegula 6-1, 6-3 in 1h01. “It’s always difficult to play against a friend, but we’ve done it all our lives. When we arrive on the court, it’s only about work but then we become friends again,” explained Keys.
At 28, she remains in a quarter-final this season at Wimbledon. She had reached the semis at the Australian Open in 2022.
For her part, Vondrousova, surprise winner of Wimbledon in July but who had never passed the eighth at the US Open (reached in 2018) overthrew the American Peyton Stearns (59th) 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 6-2.
“She is very powerful and it was a very difficult match”, commented Vondrousova who did not expect to arrive in the quarterfinals in New York because “after Wimbledon the pressure was immense”.
The 24-year-old Czech, finalist at Roland-Garros in 2019 but less comfortable on fast surfaces, created a surprise this summer by winning her first Grand Slam title on the grass of Wimbledon.
She has since added a tattoo to her already well-decorated left arm: 150723, the date of the final won on the London turf.
For her part, Stearns achieved at 22 the best course of her short Grand Slam career: beaten in the first round last year in New York for her first Major, she had since missed the Australian Open then been beaten in the third round at Roland-Garros and in the first at Wimbledon.