Madison Keys of the United States scored her first career title on Saturday after upsetting higher-ranked Angelique Kerber of Germany to win the Premier-level Aegon International at Eastbourne. The young American has never made it to a WTA final prior to this week. She was definitely red hot this week as she defeated a number of quality players such as 3rd seed Jelena Jankovic and defending champion Elena Vesnina.
The finals core of the match was 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.
“I’m just so incredibly happy,” Keys said after the match concluded. “It’s one of those things where when you’re training and you don’t want to be there, you’re tired or everything hurts, you think of this moment, and it really helps push you through all of the hard times. I’m just incredibly happy right now.”
“I’m so incredibly honored to be another name on this trophy,” she said. “To know that Chris Evert, Lindsay Davenport and Martina Navratilova have all won this, it’s just an incredible honor.”
Kerber admitted that Keys was the better player in the match.
“It’s not easy when somebody is serving like she did the whole match, but I was trying, and I think I had some good returns, but it was tough to battle,” Kerber said. “Like I said before the match, she is really dangerous. She’s young and she has a great talent, so for sure she’ll be dangerous in the future.”
“My serve was definitely a weapon today, and it really helped me the entire time,” Keys said. “She raised her level so much in the second set and started playing really well, and I really had to get more aggressive and not be as passive. After that second set I just went for it, and it worked today.
“I have always loved grass. To win my first title on grass is just an amazing experience.”
The win will propel 19-year Keys’ ranking to a career high top 30 on Monday.
