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Madison Keys’ nightmare. She let the advantage slip through her fingers twice. Finally, she conceded the match
The Keys vs. Paolini clash looked set to be very even. It was hard to pick a favorite, although the American had a better head-to-head record. The women competed once, and Keys came out on top.
This time the match didn’t start off well for her. She had huge problems with maintaining her serve, which resulted in two breaks. She was only able to receive her opponent’s serve once. As a result, the American lost 3:6. However, in the second set she showed a much better side. Although she lost her serve once more in the first game, she later took control and broke the Italian. She broke her serve three times, thanks to which she was already leading 5:1 and was on the right track to equalize the score.
Then, an unexpected turn of events occurred. Keys’ game went into crisis, which she was unable to control for many minutes. The roles were reversed. Now, Paolini was dominating and began to make up for the losses, defending two set points. She broke the American twice and the score was 5:5. Eventually, there was a tie-break, but Keys woke up in it and won 8-6.
A match full of twists and turns. In the end, Keys made a painful decision. Her reaction says a lot
And in the third set she followed up. She broke the Italian twice and was already leading 5:2. And once more she noted a drop in form. It seemed that she was fighting not only with her opponent, but also with her health, which was confirmed at 5:4. Then she asked for a medical timeout. After it, she returned to the court, played another game, in which she was broken. After a while, she approached her opponent and thanked her for the meeting, retiring.
However, it is clear that this decision cost her a lot. As she walked to the net, she wiped away tears, which also moved the fans. They thanked her for her game with thunderous applause. “This match did not deserve such an ending… I hope everything is fine with your health,” wrote the “From the court – tennis information” profile on X. It is not yet known what exactly ails the American and how serious the injury is.
Madison Keys – Jasmine Paolini 3:6, 7:6(6), 5:5
Paolini thus advanced to the quarterfinals. At this stage, she will face the better of the pair Coco Gauff – Emma Navarro.