Madison Keys cliched her seventh career title and second at the Rothesay International Eastbourne with a 6-2 7-6(13) victory over Daria Kasatkina in Saturday’s final. Amidst the celebration, the American’s fiancé, ATP pro Bjorn Fratangelo joined in, and their joyful kiss was captured by photographer Jimmie48.
In 2014, Keys won her maiden WTA title at Eastbourne as a 19-year-old, defeating Angelique Kerber in the final. Nine years later, the 28-year-old repeated the feat at the grass-court tournament, fighting through a marathon second-set tiebreak and winning a 30-shot rally to convert her fifth match point against Kasatkina.
The world No.25 Keys, wearing the Nike Summer Slam Dress, didn’t drop a set in her five matches at the WTA 500 event. One standout result came in the semifinals, where she secured a 6-3 6-3 victory over her fellow American and No. 5 seed, Coco Gauff. It marked Keys’ first grass-court victory over a Top 10 player since her triumph over Kerber in the 2014 Eastbourne final.
During the trophy ceremony, Keys thanked her team and fiancé:
If you told both of us two weeks ago that this is where I would be, we would not believe it. It’s been a pretty tough year for me, so being able to have his support and kind of get things back on track has been amazing. Being able to hold this trophy is absolutely amazing.
