Madison Keys won the Rothesay International in Eastbourne for the second time in her career Saturday with a 6-2, 7-6(13) victory over Daria Kasatkina in the final.
Keys, previously the winner at the grass-court event in 2014, captured her seventh career Hologic WTA Tour title, and third on grass. She improved to 9-2 in her career against Kasatkina as well with a 1-hour, 42-minute win that she needed five match points to eventually seal.
Keys was dominant for much of the match, as she didn't face a break point for a set and a half and opened up a 6-2, 4-1 lead in under an hour on court. But after Keys faced, and erased, the first two break points against her serve in the fifth game of the second set, Kasatkina grabbed a foothold in a dramatic second set that lasted over 70 minutes on its own.
"I love coming and playing in Eastbourne. Being able to win the title here twice now makes me have very fond memories," Keys said afterward, thanking her team and fiancè, ATP pro Bjorn Fratangelo for their support.
9 - Madison Keys is the third player in the Open Era with 9+ years gap between her first (2014) and last (2023) title in Eastbourne after Martina Navratilova (15 years, 1978-1993) and Caroline Wozniacki (nine years, 2009-2018). Standby.#RothesayInternational | @WTA @WTA_insider… pic.twitter.com/3V10TLO36P
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) July 1, 2023
"If you told both of us two weeks ago that this is where I would be, we would not believe it. It's been a pretty tough year for me ... and being able to hold this trophy is absolutely amazing."
Stat of the day: The tiebreak between the two was the second-longest on tour this year, following the 30-point effort put forth by Petra Kvitova and Elena Rybakina in the final of the Miami Open won by Kvitova, 7-6(14), 6-2.
Story of the second set: Ninth seed Kasatkina, playing in her 13th career tour-level singles final and second on grass, won three straight games to level the set. Kasatkina, in fact, made it five of six games by breaking Keys for the first time and served to force a final set but was broken to 30 for a tiebreak.
Keys jumped out to leads of 3-0 and 5-2 in the eventual 28-point tiebreak, but failed to win the match at 6-5, 7-6 and 8-7 as increased wind gusts began to affect play. Kasatkina, in turn, had four set points -- at 9-8, 10-9, 11-10 and 12-11 -- before Keys won four of the last five points.
A 30-shot rally on Keys' fifth and final match point was a snapshot of the match. All of Kasatkina's court craft and guile was on display to stay in the rally, before Keys stepped up and stepped in to hammer a forehand winner -- her 34th winner overall in the match. Kasatkina hit just seven.
Keys, unseeded this week, didn't drop a set in her five wins, which also included a 6-3, 6-3 victory over fellow American and No.5 seed Coco Gauff in the semifinals.
Kasatkina staying alive 💪#RothesayInternational | @DKasatkina pic.twitter.com/EIQO0PfWdZ
— wta (@WTA) July 1, 2023
Up next at the All England Club: Both players now turn their attention to the grass-court Grand Slam at Wimbledon, which begins Monday.
Keys, seeded No.25 this year, will face British wild card Sonay Kartal in the opening round on Tuesday. Kasatkina, the No.11 seed, will face Keys' compatriot Caroline Dolehine on Monday.
Both players are former quarterfinalists at Wimbledon. Keys reached the last eight in 2015, while Kasatkina did it in 2018.
Krawczyk and Schuurs win second title of the season: No.3 seeds Desirae Krawczyk and Demi Schuurs took home the doubles title in Eastbourne, defeating No.2 seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez 6-2, 6-4 in the final. The title is the team's second of the season and third overall, having won Stuttgart in April.
The title is Schuurs' 17th doubles title and Krawczyk's 10th.