BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) – Madison Keys, the young American described last year as a future world number one by Serena Williams, showed her ability to make an impact on the new grass court season by avenging herself on an old rival.
The 21-year-old Floridian showed the ability to think on her feet which recently helped her return to the world’s top 20, overcoming a first set mini-crisis and Timea Babos in the first round of the Aegon Classic, a Wimbledon warm-up event.
After moving swiftly into a 5-2 lead against a Hungarian opponent who beat her here two years ago, Keys faltered while trying to serve out for the set, and then slipped to a 0-3 tie-break deficit.
“I was rushing too much,” admitted Keys. “But after that I got a read on her serve and served better myself.
“I’m more confident after the clay court season when I learnt how to figure stuff out better,” she said, referring to a sequence in Rome in which she overcame Garbine Muguruza, shortly afterwards to become French Open champion.