 |
| photo by Daniel Ward |
It was a chilly, rainy morning, and the doubles final had to be postponed, but singles play began as scheduled on Volvo Car Stadium, as 2011 champion and 3rd seed Caroline Wozniacki faced off against 8th seed Madison Keys for the 2019 Volvo Car Open singles title. There was little to separate the two of them in the first set, though it should be noted that Keys had a 74% first serve win stat in that set--a statistic that would get even better in the second set.
Keys won that set in a tiebreak (7-5) and never looked back. In the next set, her first serve win percentage increased to 80, and she put continuous pressure on Wozniacki, whose own serve has been excellent during this tournament. Keys began dominating the longer rallies, while Wozniacki looked more defensive than she had in the opening set.
 |
| photo by Daniel Ward |
Keys won the match 7-6, 6-3, and in doing so, she not only won the Volvo Car Open, she defeated the second major champion (the other was Sloane Stephens, in the quarterfinals) whom she had never before beaten. It was also Keys' first clay title, and next week, her ranking will climb to number 14 in the world.
Keys picked up a trophy, a key to the city of Charleston and a new Volvo, which she will get to design herself.
 |
| photo by Daniel Ward |
Wozniacki, who won the title in 2011 (and was the runner-up in 2009, also) mentioned in her speech that she had never won a car at a tournament, and asked if she could perhaps borrow Keys' new Volvo. The champion replied that she would be happy to share her new ride with Caroline.
 |
| "...just very proud of how I played today." (photo by Daniel Ward) |
 |
| all photos by Daniel Ward |
Good coverage of our only clay event. To end the week on a positive note, who impressed you this week? On court, and off?
ReplyDeleteThanks, colt ��. On court, I was impressed by Madi, Petra Martic (who just can’t seem to catch a break), Puig—who is returning to scary form—Collins, and young Emma Navarro. In the press room, the stand-outs were Ostapenko (my feature interview with her never happened ��), Puig and Keys. And for the brief moment she was with us—Petko, of course.
ReplyDelete