It’s an all-American final at the Internationaux de Strasbourg in France on Saturday, when good friends Danielle Collins and Madison Keys will play the championship match.
Before they could play their semi-finals on Friday, though, they had to wait for the 4th quarter-final to be completed between Market Vondrousova and Anhelina Kalinina, which had been held overnight because of rain and was eventually won by the Ukrainian, who upset the Czech World No 6 after a 2 hour 34 minute battle, 5-7 6-3 6-2.
For the first time since 2016, Keys will play in a red-clay final after the 4th-seed defeated Liudmila Samsonova from Russia in the first semi-final, 6-1 6-3.
Keys has now reached 4 clay-court finals in her career, but 2 of them came on green clay at the Credit One Charleston Open in her home country.
Her only previous clay-court final in Europe came when she was an unseeded 21-year-old at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, where she defeated two Top 10 opponents before losing to Serena Williams.
Keys, the 4th seed, came into Friday’s match, which was twice paused due to rain, with a favourable head-to-head record against Samsonova, and that trend continued in 67 minutes in Strasbourg. After losing their first meeting on grass in Berlin 3 years ago, the American has now won 4 straight matches against the Russian, 2 of them this spring, having also defeated her 6-2 6-3 in Madrid. On this occasion, Keys converted 6 of 10 break points in her 6-1 6-3 win over the No 5 seed.
The 2017 US Open finalist will bid for her 8th career title, and her first since Eastbourne last summer, against her fellow Billie Jean King Cup teammate, Danielle Collins, who is looking for her 3rd title in the last 2 months.
Keys, who is 29, has won 4 of her last 5 finals on the Hologic WTA Tour. She and Collins have not played since 2020.
For her 22nd victory in her past 24 matches, Collins, the No 3 seed, struck 31 winners while cruising to a 7-6(3) 6-2 win over Kalinina in the second semi-final, who was playing her second match of the day.
After their individual victories, the two compatriots will face each other in the final, recalling their history as pen pals and good friends.
At the Grand Prix De Son Altesse Royale La Princesse Lalla Meryem, another American, Peyton Stearns, is looking for her first career title after outlasting Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova, 6-7(6) 7-5 7-6(4) in the semi-finals at Rabat, Morocco.
Sherif was on court for just 61 minutes as she sailed to an easy 6-0 6-1 win over Russia’s Kamilla Rakhimova.
