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MASON, Ohio (AP) – Madison Keys returned to the field to receive her first Cincinnati Championship trophy.
"If you'd told me it was where I would be a week ago, I'd have laughed in my face!" she told the crowd.
Yet she was already in the Top 10 and on a surprising climb to New York.
Keys beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-5, 7-6 (5) at Western & Southern Open for his second title of the season and most of his career. After fighting in her last three tournaments, she has a lot of confidence in an American Open full of intrigue.
Serena Williams left Cincinnati because of back cramps that also forced her to retire from the final in Toronto last week. Naomi Osaka, reigning champion of the American Open, withdrew from her semifinal match in Cincinnati with a knee injury.
And now, Keys is on the rise. She will rank 10th in New York after another serious performance, beating Kuznetsova to tie both sets 5-5 and pull them out.
Why so unexpected? She had not passed the second round in any of her last three tournaments, including Wimbledon. In addition, she had a difficult draw for a tournament played by 90 degrees for much of the week.
"It's really a good thing," said Keys. "I want to do well in New York and have a good end to the season."
At 34, Kuznetsova was the oldest finalist in the history of the Western & Southern Open. She beat three of the top 10 players in a tournament – Sloane Stephens, Karolina Pliskova and Ashleigh Barty – for the first time in 19 years.
The 153rd player started late in the season as she was recovering seven months after a knee injury. At her ninth tournament of the season, she started playing and getting her best result in two years.
"Honestly, I did not expect to be so good at this tournament," she said.
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