Madison Keys battles past Sofia Kenin to reach Cincinnati final

Madison Keys will now square off with Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia in the final.

American tennis star Madison Keys stormed into the final of the ongoing Western and Southern Open after battling past compatriot Sofia Kenin in straight sets in the semi-finals of the tournament in Cincinnati on Sunday. 

16th seed Keys booked her place in her first hardcourt final since 2017 US Open with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Kenin in a thrilling last-four clash of the Cincinnati Open that lasted one hour and 22 minutes.

Keys began the clash by taking a 5-2 lead in the opening set before Kenin bounced back and saved a point besides winning three consecutive games to level the scoreline. However, Keys held her nerve and steal a set before a tie breaker. 

In the second set, Keys was broken twice but she rallied to win the last three games to ultimately emerge victorious. 

Enroute to her win, Keys smashed 41 match winners to just 21 unforced errors enroute to her win. She also hit 14 aces to just four double faults during the match.

Following the win, the elder American revealed that she just focussed on her return games and continued to pile pressure on Kenin during the second set which resulted in her favour. 

"I think at the end I really kind of found my groove and figured out how I wanted to play the points.I think in the second set she started returning really well and taking things really early. Seemed like she was really seeing it. I kind of just had to really focus in on my return games and put the same amount of pressure on her,"the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) quoted Keys as saying. 

She will now square off with Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia in the final.