By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Seventeenth seed Madison Keys confidently swatted aside Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 6-1 6-4 to reach the U.S. Open semi-finals on Wednesday, fending off all nine break points she faced across the match at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The 2017 finalist Keys suffered a handful of early exits from her domestic Grand Slam in recent years but has excelled in the 2023 edition and appeared right at home in prime time under the bright lights in Flushing.
The ninth-seeded Czech Vondrousova withdrew from her doubles campaign after a three-set test from American Peyton Stearns in the fourth round left her with a sore arm and she had little firepower left for the quarter-final affair.
“I just love it here. I love playing here. In front of a home crowd you can never feel like you can’t get out of any situation,” Keys said in on-court remarks.
“I knew I was going to have to keep trying to get to the net, be aggressive.”
She next faces second seed Aryna Sabalenka, who dispatched China’s Zheng Qinwen in another lopsided performance at Ashe earlier on Wednesday 6-1 6-4 to reach her fifth Grand Slam semi-final in a row.
The match got off to an unusual start as the chair umpire was forced to stop play midway through the first game for several minutes when a spectator needed medical attention.
Keys was clearly not rattled by the incident and began her demolition once play resumed, breaking Vondrousova to love in the second game and converting on another break point chance with a fine forehand winner in the fourth.
Vondrousova upped her level across the board in the second set, improving her serve considerably, but was unable to seize the momentum and left to rue missed opportunities as she failed to convert on five break points in the eighth game alone.
Keys broke her opponent in the ninth game and let out a cheer as she forced Vondrousova into a backhand error on match point.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Kim Coghill)
