Madison Keys begins U.S. Open with win in return from Wimbledon injury

Madison Keys earned a spot in the second round of the U.S. Open in her return from injury.

The No. 14-seeded American posted a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Czechia’s Katerina Siniakova inside Louis Armstrong Stadium on Monday, less than two months after a leg injury ended her 2024 Wimbledon run.

As a result, Keys will meet Australia’s Maya Joint in the second round on Wednesday.

“It’s been a summer of a lot of time in the gym rehabbing,” Keys said after the match, in which she won five of 10 break points. “I tried to play in Toronto, but it was a little too fast. Wasn’t quite ready. I also felt like I took a lot of positives from that match just because I was still playing well, and it wasn’t until late in the second set that things kind of went sideways, so I felt like I wasn’t that far off.

“Being able to give myself a few more weeks just to get back 100 percent. I think was really important. We’ve just been able to kind of do whatever we can in the six weeks that we’ve had.”

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After earning a first-round buy-in in Toronto, Keys was forced to retire in the second round of the Canadian Open with hip issues.

She had already missed a month of play while recovering from the leg injury she suffered at Wimbledon, but it was clear the 29-year-old was not ready to play again.

“I think that the frustrating thing is that you work so hard to get the level of your fitness and base and all of that there, and then one thing happens, and all of a sudden it just seems like all of it is gone,” Keys said. “It’s all of the small little things where you have to — it’s baby steps. I think that’s kind of the frustrating part, where you just kind of keep thinking, like a week ago I was fine.

“Like, I could do anything and everything, and now all of a sudden it’s the baby steps of, okay, it’s just like basic strength and then you can go onto the court and then you can start pushing the endurance side.”

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Iva Jovic, a 16-year-old Californian, became the youngest American woman to win a main-draw match at the U.S. Open since 2000. She upset 2023 Australian Open semifinalist Magda Linette, 6-4, 6-3.

“Surprised, but not surprised,” Jovic said. “I just had a plan about what I was going to do before we started, and there weren’t that many needs for crazy adjustments, because it was going well. So just kind of sticking to that.”

American Katrina Scott was also 16 when she won a match in Flushing four years ago, as was Russian Mirra Andreeva when she won a match last year.

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Even if it came during his farewell to the storied tournament, Dominic Thiem finally got his U.S. Open moment.

After capturing his first and only Grand Slam title in front of an empty Arthur Ashe Stadium in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Thiem cherished playing in front of a packed house on Monday despite losing to American Ben Shelton in three sets.

“To say thank you to all of you,” he said after the match. “And to make the time up for what we missed four years ago.”

American Taylor Townsend’s impressive summer continued on Monday with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Italy’s Martina Trevisan.

Blasting four aces and reaping the benefits of Trevisan’s six double-faults, Townsend secured a matchup with Spain’s Paula Badosa on Wednesday.

Townsend, who is ranked a career-high No. 46, is coming off a quarterfinal berth at the Canadian Open and the round of 16 in Cincinnati — coming through qualifying in both events. Additionally, she won the doubles titles at Wimbledon with Katerina Siniakova and the Washington Open with Asia Muhammed.

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