Category: Madison Keys

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Madison Keys

Madison Keys to debut Nike Air Zoom Vapor X tennis shoes in Australia

At the upcoming tournaments in Australia that are kicking off the 2018 tennis season, world No.19 Madison Keys is set to debut the Nike Air Zoom Vapor X shoes, a revamped version of Nike‘s flagship Vapor line that improves flexibility and comfort by combining the best features of running shoes and on-court innovation.

Keys first tested the new shoe model in March 2017 and felt immediate comfort:

I put it on and I hit in it, it was like, ‘Yeah, these are great. I would love to wear these during matches,’ which isn’t always the case.

The American likes her kicks to have a fine balance between being rigid and elastic, so she wears her match shoes during several days of practice sessions to make them stretched out in just the right places.

This most innovative model to date, that has kept all the great features of the Vapor 9.5 and added important tweaks, provides a larger, more aggressive foot frame than the previous Vapors, improved traction pattern, enhanced durability and greater stability, while Keys especially appreciates better flexibility.

Since she started wearing Vapors in 2015, Keys has captured two of her three career titles, entered the Top 10 and reached her first Grand Slam final. Commenting on her footwear, Keys joked:

All of my success is because of the Vapors.

Notable fact: 81% of NikeCourt athletes wear Vapors.

The NikeCourt Vapor X shoes were released on December 23rd and you can purchase them at Tennis Warehouse USA. While Keys will sport the black/white/solar red style, there are other color combinations available as well.

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Madison Keys

New tennis couple: Madison Keys and Bjorn Fratangelo dating

Madison Keys will remember year 2017 for reaching her first Grand Slam final at the US Open, but also for her flourishing love life. The 22-year-old is dating fellow American tennis player, Bjorn Fratangelo, and the relationship is now Insta official.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdB0BXLFWMs/

Keys today shared this photo on the social media website, saying:

Santa delivered this year <3

The 24-year-old Fratangelo, named after tennis legend Bjorn Borg, won the boys’ singles title at Roland Garros 2011 and turned pro in 2012. Right now he’s ranked No.111, while his highest ranking was No.99. He still has no singles and doubles ATP titles in his résumé.

I’m so happy that we have another tennis couple and I’m glad to feature Madison in my WTA Players and their Love Partners page for the first time.

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Bank of the West Classic tournament kicked out of Stanford University venue

Despite being the oldest women’s-only tournament in the world and one of the most attended, the Bank of the West Classic will have to move out of the Stanford University campus as soon as in 2018, simply because the university bureaucracy has decided to change its policies.

IMG, the tournament’s current owner, released the following statement:

After 21 years of partnering with Stanford University, IMG has been notified by the University that its policy of hosting corporate sponsored events on campus has changed and Stanford will no longer be able to host a WTA event at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium. IMG’s highest priority is to keep the event in the Bay Area and we are working on a plan to do so.

As my photographer Jimmie48 tweeted, IMG was willing to pay triple the rent and the Premier-level tournament has all the support from sponsors, but nothing can be done to beat the university’s decision.

These historic photos of 2017 Stanford finalists Coco Vandeweghe and Madison Keys are now even more precious.

The 2012 and 2017 Stanford runner-up Vandeweghe has been vocal on Twitter, saying:

This is terrible. The Bank of the West Classic is one of my all time favorites. WTA and USTA, how can we allow ourselves to lose another tournament. Come on guys.

American Madison Keys is now officially the last Stanford champion.

The Bank of the West Classic is the first women’s event in the US Open Series and the fact that it has to find a new location already for the 2018 edition puts a lot on pressure on IMG. Let’s see how this situation will develop and how successful IMG will be in providing a new suitable venue.

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Madison Keys Petra Kvitova Sloane Stephens Wuhan Open

Wuhan Open waves goodbye to top seed and US Open finalists in first round

Monday’s first-round action at the $2,365,250 Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open was an elimination field for both the tournament’s top seed Petra Kvitova and finalists at the recently-finished US Open, champion Sloane Stephens and runner-up Madison Keys.

In the opening match on Centre Court, after quickly dropping the first set to fellow American Varvara Lepchenkova, tenth seed Madison Keys improved in the second, but then wasted two set points and after saving a match point to force a tiebreak, the US Open runner-up was again in a big deficit of 1-5 in the tiebreak, eventually losing the match 6-2 7-6(4).

Keys may have to rethink her schedule for the remainder of the season, due to left wrist pain she felt during her match in Wuhan. It is the same wrist she had two surgeries on in the previous period, but Keys assures us that it’s nothing serious now, it’s just lack of strength due to the fact that she hasn’t had enough time to properly recover.

Playing her first tournament since the spectacular US Open run to the winner’s trophy, Sloane Stephens, seeded 14th, experienced a typical post-big-triumph hangover, falling to home player Wang Qiang 6-2 6-2 in the first round in China. Sloane found the Wuhan court fast and wasn’t able to move very well.

Also out is top seed and defending champion Petra Kvitova, who lost to world No.24 Peng Shuai for the first time in their eight meetings, and what a battle it was — they played three tiebreaks and the match turned out to be the longest tour-level match of the season at three hours and 34 minutes, 7-6(7) 6-7(5) 7-6(3).

Another notable Monday’s result is Caroline Garcia‘s first-round elimination of former world No.1 Angelique Kerber. The Frenchwoman straightforwardly lost the first set, but then pulled off a streak of seven won games in the remainder of the match, as the twelfth-seeded Kerber just avoided a bagel in the decider, 3-6 6-3 6-1.

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US Open 2017 PHOTOS: Stephens beats Keys in women’s final

Sloane Stephens of the United States during the trophy ceremony of the 2017 US Open Grand Slam tennis tournament

Sloane Stephens won the 2017 US Open with a quick straight-set win over Madison Keys in New York City on Saturday. We have the all-American women’s final covered in photos, as well as the event that happened earlier in the day, when tennis legend Billie Jean King was joined by actress Emma Stone for a press conference celebrating the upcoming start of the Battle of the Sexes movie.

I hope you enjoyed our coverage of the 2017 US Open, including our extensive photo galleries from the tournament’s qualifying all the way to the women’s final. Here’s a list of all our photos preceding the title match, thanks to our photographer Jimmie48:

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Sloane Stephens blitzes past Madison Keys to win US Open

It was an unexpectedly short all-American US Open title match between Grand Slam finals debutantes, as unseeded Sloane Stephens needed 60 minutes sharp to eliminate seed No.15 Madison Keys 6-3 6-0.

The 24-year-old Stephens went through eight games without making an unforced error, finishing the first set with just two unforced errors and just four points lost on serve. Before you knew it the first set was over, but it turned out that the second set was just as short, with Stephens’ only hiccup coming in the fifth game, when she faced three break points, but saved them all. This championship match finished so quickly, that I barely got the feeling it even started.

Since computer rankings began in November 1975 only two players – the unranked Kim Clijsters in 2009 and No.26 Flavia Pennetta in 2015 – have won the US Open title ranked outside the Top 10. The world No.83 Stephens is now the third and the title will lift her to No.17 in the WTA rankings.

By defeating Roberta Vinci in the first round, seed No.11 Dominika Cibulkova in the second, Ashleigh Barty in the third, seed No.30 Julia Goerges in the fourth, seed No.16 Anastasija Sevastova in the quarterfinals, seed No.9 Venus Williams in the semis and finally Keys, Stephens has scored more wins this fortnight at the 2017 US Open (seven), than she had in her last six Grand Slam appearances combined (six).

What a story! Who would’ve thought that Stephens, who had been ranked as low as No. 957 when entering the 2017 US Open Series, would win her maiden Grand Slam title!

 

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US Open 2017 PHOTOS: Stephens, Keys reach US Open final

Sloane Stephens of the United States in action during the semi-finals at the 2017 US Open Grand Slam tennis tournament

The 2017 US Open will see a maiden Grand Slam winner lift the trophy on Saturday as two first-time finalists Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys are set to meet in the championship match in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

While Madison Keys beat Coco Vandeweghe in a swift fashion in what was their third encounter during this US hardcourt season, Sloane Stephens found herself locked into an epic three-set battle against Venus Williams.

MORE US OPEN 2017 PHOTOS:

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Madison Keys US Open

Keys dispatches Vandweghe to move into US Open final

Madison Keys beat Coco Vandeweghe to make her first Grand Slam final where she’ll face fellow first-time major finalist Sloane Stephens, who had defeated Venus Williams in the first Thursday’s semi.

En route to recording her third victory over Vandeweghe in the 2017 US Open Series, the 15th-seeded Keys never faced a break point and absolutely dominated in all areas of the game, including a +16 winners-to-unforced-errors differential compared to Vandeweghe’s -13. Final score: 6-1 6-2.

By reaching the title match, Keys is projected to rise from No.16 to No.12 in the WTA rankings, while the US Open title would propel her to No.9.

 

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US Open 2017 PHOTOS: Vandeweghe beats Pliskova, Keys dominates Kanepi for all-American semifinals

Madison Keys of the United States in action during her quarter-final match at the 2017 US Open Grand Slam tennis tournament

Madison Keys completed the all-American semifinals at the 2017 US Open, confidently defeating Kaia Kanepi in Wednesday’s night match. The 15th-seeded Keys will next face 20th-seeded compatriot Coco Vandeweghe, who made her way into the final four by upsetting world No.1 Karolina Pliskova earlier in the day, setting up the third meeting between the two Americans within the last few weeks.

The first WTA semifinal pair was determined on Tuesday and it also features Americans, Venus Williams and Sloane Stephens.

MORE US OPEN 2017 PHOTOS:

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Keys completes all-American US Open semifinals

For the first time since distant 1981, the US Open will have four American players in the semifinals, as Madison Keys joined compatriots Coco Vandeweghe, Venus Williams and Sloane Stephens in the final four.

In the last women’s quarterfinal, the 15th-seeded Keys recorded a confident victory over Estonian Kaia Kanepi, who does have experience in Grand Slam quarterfinals, but who went all the way through qualifying this year, using special ranking of No.196, instead of her actual ranking of No.418.

Early in the first set, Kanepi threatened Keys’ serve, but the American saved those break points and went on to establish a 4-1 lead, that her opponent never caught up with. Both players put a good first percentage of first serves in, but Keys was way better in aces, hitting five to Kanepi’s zero, and in winners, recording 12 to Kanepi’s only three.

Keys opened the second set by breaking Kanepi’s serve and held on to that lead until the final stage of the set, when she converted her second match point on Kanepi’s serve for a 6-3 6-3 triumph.

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