No. 25 seed Madison Keys ended 16-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva’s run at Wimbledon by rallying for a 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 victory in the fourth round Monday in London.
Keys, who last made the final eight at the All England Club in 2015, will face No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the quarterfinals.
Keys, coming off a title at Eastbourne, was down a set and a break before eliminating Andreeva and extending her winning streak to nine matches. Keys saved eight of 12 break points and finished the two-hour, two-minute battle with 39 winners and 40 unforced errors.
Andreeva had been bidding to become the youngest Wimbledon quarterfinalist since Anna Kournikova in 1997. She was ahead 4-1 in the second set and had a break point to potentially get to 5-1, but Keys responded with a backhand winner and held serve. She then broke Andreeva in the seventh game to get back on serve and swing the momentum.
Keys said the teenager’s play forced her to change strategies mid-match.
“I just figured I’d start charging the net and see what happened. It’s a bit of reminder to me,” Keys said. “I always forget I’m not bad at the net, and I should probably get up there more often. Honestly, I thought (I’d) just try to throw her off of her game a little bit.”
Andreeva, who will crack the world Top 100 for the first time in the next rankings, finished with 14 winners and 21 unforced errors.
“She’s 16, she’s very free, going to play some of her best tennis,” Keys said. “You go in knowing there’s going to be moments where she’s playing incredibly well. Also, it’s tough being on the other side of the net of a 16-year-old who is really playing with nothing to lose and you’re the one that’s supposed to beat her. That’s always a difficult position to be in.”
Sabalenka moved into the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-0 win against No. 21 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia. Sabalenka, a 2021 Wimbledon semifinalist, lost only 11 points in the second set.
No. 3 seed and defending champion Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan and No. 6 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia also will meet in the quarterfinals in a rematch of last year’s Wimbledon final.
Jabeur defeated No. 9 seed and two-time champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic 6-0, 6-3 in just 63 minutes on Monday. Rybakina advanced when her fourth-round opponent, No. 13 Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil, retired with a back injury trailing 4-1 in the first set.
–Field Level Media