Cincinnati: Madison Keys came from a break down in both sets to defeat Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-5, 7-6 (7/5) on Sunday to win the WTA Cincinnati crown.
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The 2017 US Open finalist notched her fifth career title and second this season after a win in Charleston in April.
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She’ll return to the top 10 in the world rankings with the US Open a week away.
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Kuznetsova, a two-time Grand Slam champion working her way back up the rankings after a series of injuries, was broken back in the 10th game of each set by 16th-seeded Keys – who fired 13 aces on the way to victory.
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“If my team had told me a week ago that I would be here, I would have laughed in their face,” admitted Keys, who had endured two opening-match defeats since a second-round exit at Wimbledon.
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Keys belted a total of 43 winners with 33 unforced errors and broke Kuznetsova three times.
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Despite leading both sets, Kuznetsova never had a set point in either, Keys winning the final four games of the first set before dropping her serve in the third game of the second.
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Keys broke Kuznetsova to level at 5-all and ran out the winner in the ensuing tiebreaker as the Russian sent a service return long on Keys’s second match point.
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Former world number two Kuznetsova, who received a wildcard into the draw, beat world number three Ashleigh Barty and 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens on her way to the final.
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The Russian veteran will jump from 118th to 31st in the rankings and said she’d had a “great week.”
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“I want to thank the tournament for giving me a wild card for the second years in a row,” she said. “I certainly did better than last year. Thanks to the American people who supported me and pulled me through many matches in this tournament.”
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