MASON, Ohio (AP) – Ninth-seeded Venus Williams was knocked out of the Western & Southern Open by qualifier Ashleigh Barty in a three-set, second-round match on Wednesday.
Barty, who is ranked No. 48 on the WTA Tour, bounced back after dropping the second set to pull out a 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 upset of the 37-year-old Wimbledon finalist, who is ranked No. 9.
Earlier, 16th-seeded Madison Keys easily reached the women’s round of 16 in Cincinnati for the first time on her fourth try, needing just 50 minutes to zoom past Daria Kasatkina 6-2, 6-1. Keys, a right-hander who withdrew from last week’s Rogers Cup in Toronto with a left forearm injury, next will meet fourth-seeded Garbine Muguruza, the Wimbledon champion.
“I definitely thought I played really well,” Keys said. “I don’t know if I was the zone, press, but everything was going well. It was falling into place, and I didn’t have to rush anything.”
Keys was happiest about finishing quickly in the humid, 80-some-degree conditions.