Madison Keys (13) took the first set in a tie break against Yulia Putintseva after sing down 3-5, and the pair stood at 2-2 in set two in the first of the 2018 Roland Garros quarter finals.
A double fault from Yulia was more than compensated by three American errors and the game was won for Kazakhstan with a volley winner 3-2 Putintseva.
Two forehand winners from Keys highlighted her next service hold and it was 3-3.
Forced errors were exchanged before Yulia at the net pushed a forehand wide. Her next serve was effective for 30-30, but Keys then found a way to set up break point. A forehand return winner converted for a 4-3 lead and closing in on a win.
Two unforced Putintseva errors and game points for Keys - a forehand put away and a semi final was a breath away. 5-3
30-0 for Putintseva after Keys errors was followed by a US backhand
return winner and 30-15. The serve was held courtesy of more American mistakes, but Madison Keys would now be serving for the match at 5-4.
After a forehand mistake, Keys used her big serve and a forehand winner to move to 30-15. A brilliant running forehand pass delivered by Putintseva when seemingly out of the point, gave us 30-30.
However the next Kazakhstan forehand found the net and it donated match point to Keys.
The big serve did the trick and Keys unlocked the door to her first Roland Garros semi final 7-6 6-4, yet to drop a set all tournament.
Her semi final opponent will be the winner of the quarter final between Sloane Stephens (10) and Daria Kasatkina (14)
As Madison Keys was winning her match, Dominic Thiem (7) was doing his best to find a spot in the semi finals for a third straight year.
He had taken the first two sets from Sascha Zverev (2) 6-4 6-2 and led 4-0 with two break points in the fifth game of the third set.
Zverev had suffered through hamstring troubles but manfully continued when he could have easily withdrawn.
The break points were saved, and a third, before Zverev finally registered a score on the board with a backhand winner.
Three errors won the first points of the next game before a Zverev winner. Then another mistake from the Austrian gave Zverev break point.
Thiem steadied and held for 5-1.
Zverev held game point but it was squashed with a quality backhand from Thiem. Another chance to hold was lost when a forehand went long. A third opportunity also evaporated with a loose shot.
A backhand wide and match point. Saved with a backhand Zverev winner.
A second match point was saved. A forehand return winner and a third match point. Thiem’s backhand winner won the match 6-4 6-2 6-1 and he advanced to the semi final where he will play the winner of the quarter final between Novak Djokovic (20) and Marco Cecchinato.
No comments:
Post a Comment