At the Family Circle Cup, The seventh-seeded 20-year-old blew away fellow American Lauren Davis 6-2, 6-2 in just 73 minutes on the clay courts in Charleston, South Carolina. Since reaching the semis in Melbourne, Keys was eliminated early in her only two tournaments, at Indian Wells and Miami. The power-hitting Keys, 20, came into the even with a losing record on clay. Yet, she has lost only nine games her first three matches here this week with a dazzling display of power and poise.
After the match, she added: “It’s been a pretty good week. I have not had many complaints about how I’ve been playing. I’m not trying to get too high on myself; I’m just trying to keep playing how I’ve been playing.”
On the other hand, Defending champion Andrea Petkovic reached the quarterfinal Thursday at the Charleston WTA tournament with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Madison Brengle. Petkovic was at less than her best against Kovinic, slamming her racket to the green clay after losing the first set. Her mother immediately left the box; Mom did not approve.
In her career, Petkovic has never lost a match at the WTA Premier green clay event, winning the 2014 title and withdrawing the year before when she had reached the fourth round. In last year’s final Petkovic defeated the Slovak Jana Cepelova.
The Fourth-seeded Italian Sara Errani reached the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 victory over Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo. Errani will face Czech Lucie Hradecka, who toppled French eighth seed Caroline Garcia 5-7, 7-5, 6-4.
The 21-year-old Davis had stunned top-seeded Canadian star Genie Bouchard in straight sets on Wednesday.
On the other side the 29-year-old, Hradecka has been snapping her teeth into healthier food to boost her career. She’s a seasoned veteran turned who has won more $3.4 million in her career, and she is dangerous on clay. More than half of her 75 career main-draw wins have come on clay, and she has reached six WTA finals in her career, four of them on clay.