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The Star
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Star
Tennis-Keys downs Baptiste to set up another all-American clash with Gauff
Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - June 2, 2025 Madison Keys of the U.S. celebrates winning her fourth round match against Hailey Baptiste of the U.S. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner PARIS (Reuters) - Madison Keys fought off a late challenge from fellow American Hailey Baptiste to book her spot in the French Open quarter-finals with a 6-3 7-5 victory at Roland Garros on Monday. The seventh-seeded Keys cantered through the opening set before Baptiste broke for 3-1 in the second, pushing the Australian Open champion to the limit on Court Suzanne Lenglen. Baptiste eventually cracked, allowing her opponent and friend to set up a meeting with second seed Coco Gauff in the next round, ensuring an American presence in the semi-finals. "Hailey is such an amazing player, it was such a tough second set. Today I just had to kind of make as many balls as possible," said Keys. The 30-year-old could count on the support of new U.S. Billie Jean King Cup captain and former coach Lindsay Davenport plus 2017 U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens, who is sidelined through injury and was also watching from the stands. "We've a lot of really great players constantly helping us, inspiring us and if we have any questions they're of great help. It's great being friends with such amazing players," she added. Keys, who only has one clay court title to her name, will face an expert on the red surface in Gauff and knows she will have to take risks to reach the last four in Paris for the second time after making the semis in 2018. "At the Australian Open I was really brave to go after my shots, that's how I play my best tennis. Sometimes it is hard but usually it pays off," she added. (Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Ken Ferris)
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- Straits Times
Keys downs Baptiste to set up another all-American clash with Gauff
Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - June 2, 2025 Madison Keys of the U.S. celebrates winning her fourth round match against Hailey Baptiste of the U.S. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - June 2, 2025 Madison Keys of the U.S. shakes hands with Hailey Baptiste of the U.S. after winning her fourth round match REUTERS/Lisi Niesner Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - June 2, 2025 Madison Keys of the U.S. celebrates winning her fourth round match against Hailey Baptiste of the U.S. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner PARIS - Madison Keys fought off a late challenge from fellow American Hailey Baptiste to book her spot in the French Open quarter-finals with a 6-3 7-5 victory at Roland Garros on Monday. The seventh-seeded Keys cantered through the opening set before Baptiste broke for 3-1 in the second, pushing the Australian Open champion to the limit on Court Suzanne Lenglen. Baptiste eventually cracked, allowing her opponent and friend to set up a meeting with second seed Coco Gauff in the next round, ensuring an American presence in the semi-finals. "Hailey is such an amazing player, it was such a tough second set. Today I just had to kind of make as many balls as possible," said Keys. The 30-year-old could count on the support of new U.S. Billie Jean King Cup captain and former coach Lindsay Davenport plus 2017 U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens, who is sidelined through injury and was also watching from the stands. "We've a lot of really great players constantly helping us, inspiring us and if we have any questions they're of great help. It's great being friends with such amazing players," she added. Keys, who only has one clay court title to her name, will face an expert on the red surface in Gauff and knows she will have to take risks to reach the last four in Paris for the second time after making the semis in 2018. "At the Australian Open I was really brave to go after my shots, that's how I play my best tennis. Sometimes it is hard but usually it pays off," she added. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Kyodo News
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Kyodo News
Tennis: Osaka beaten by Badosa, makes 1st-round exit at French Open
KYODO NEWS - 7 hours ago - 15:51 | Sports, All Japan's former world No. 1 and four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka was beaten in the first round of the French Open women's singles Monday going down 6-7(1), 6-1, 6-4 to 10th seed Paula Badosa of Spain. Current world No. 49 Osaka edged Badosa in a first set filled with hard groundstrokes but quickly lost the second and struggled to deal with deep shots in the third from the former world No. 2, who won in 2 hours, 21 minutes at Roland Garros. "I think she was probably more aggressive," said a visibly disappointed Osaka at her press conference. "I wasn't really expecting to lose in the first round." Badosa had 27 winners and the same number of unforced errors, while Osaka landed 36 winners but was made to pay for her 54 unforced errors in their first career meeting. "I learn little things from each match," said the 27-year-old, who reached the third round at the Australian Open in January in her best Grand Slam performance since giving birth to her daughter in July 2023. Badosa rued having to face such a tough opponent so early in the tournament. "First set was very high level -- she won," the 27-year-old said. "The third set was a very, very high level. It went my side. I have to be honest, it's not fair to have a first round like this." In the men's singles first round, Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka withdrew with lower back pain while trailing Alexei Popyrin of Australia 7-5, 6-4. Related coverage: Tennis: Japan downs Canada to reach Billie Jean King Cup finals
Kyodo News
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Kyodo News
Tennis: Osaka beaten by Badosa, makes 1st-round exit at French Open
KYODO NEWS - 2 hours ago - 15:51 | Sports, All Japan's former world No. 1 and four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka was beaten in the first round of the French Open women's singles Monday going down 6-7(1), 6-1, 6-4 to 10th seed Paula Badosa of Spain. Current world No. 49 Osaka edged Badosa in a first set filled with hard groundstrokes but quickly lost the second and struggled to deal with deep shots in the third from the former world No. 2, who won in 2 hours, 21 minutes at Roland Garros. "I think she was probably more aggressive," said a visibly disappointed Osaka at her press conference. "I wasn't really expecting to lose in the first round." Badosa had 27 winners and the same number of unforced errors, while Osaka landed 36 winners but was made to pay for her 54 unforced errors in their first career meeting. "I learn little things from each match," said the 27-year-old, who reached the third round at the Australian Open in January in her best Grand Slam performance since giving birth to her daughter in July 2023. Badosa rued having to face such a tough opponent so early in the tournament. "First set was very high level -- she won," the 27-year-old said. "The third set was a very, very high level. It went my side. I have to be honest, it's not fair to have a first round like this." In the men's singles first round, Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka withdrew with lower back pain while trailing Alexei Popyrin of Australia 7-5, 6-4. Related coverage: Tennis: Japan downs Canada to reach Billie Jean King Cup finals
The Guardian
23-05-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Maya Joint reaches first WTA final in French Open tune-up in Morocco
Teenager Maya Joint's remarkable rise has scaled a new peak with the brilliant young Australian prospect reaching her first WTA final in Morocco, just days before making her French Open debut. In what was seen as a clay-court dress rehearsal after the Australian pair had also been drawn to meet each other in the first round at Roland Garros, 19-year-old Joint came out on top in her last-four encounter with Ajla Tomljanovic at the Morocco Open in Rabat on Friday. Joint was just beginning to assert her authority in the match by taking the first set 6-4 but world No 79 Tomljanovic's withdrawal at the end of the stanza still came as a surprise to her opponent and the crowd. It gives Joint the chance of two maiden trophies as she later on Friday went on to claim her first doubles crown alongside Georgian Oksana Kalashnikova as they beat the Italian pair Angelica Moratelli and Camilla Rosatello 6-3 7-5. 'I mean, it's never the way you want to win, Ajla's a good friend,' said Joint, after defeating her Billie Jean King Cup teammate in the singles. 'But we we play each other first round in Roland Garros next week, so we'll be able to try this again – but I hope that she can get better quickly. 'It's very difficult [playing against a fellow Australian]. I was definitely feeling a bit nervous having to play her, but we're both professionals. We both have good game styles, so I knew it'd be a good match, competitive. 'I started off pretty well, really feeling my shots, and she was coming back and testing me, but I'm glad that I was able to pull it out in the end of the set.' It was a generation game largely played on Joint's racquet over the 39 minutes as the youngster dominated the early stages against the experienced 32-year-old, moving into a 3-0 lead for the loss of just two points with her crisp forehand proving hugely effective. Tomljanovic roared back to level the scores but folded near the end of the set as Joint applied the pressure, grabbing a set point from the older player's poorly-executed drop shot and then sealing the stanza with a fine service return that her opponent couldn't retrieve. Sign up to Australia Sport Get a daily roundup of the latest sports news, features and comment from our Australian sports desk after newsletter promotion It's another milestone for the American-born, Brisbane-based Joint, who threw in her lot with her squash-playing dad's home country of Australia a couple of years ago and has risen inexorably, now to the verge of the world's top 50. There is only one other teenager in the world's top 100 ranked higher than Joint – 18-year-old Russian phenomenon Mirra Andreeva. Joint was 684 in the world at the start of last year, rose to 116 throughout 2024 and, having now come through her second WTA semi-final with a win, she's guaranteed to be No 60 next week or even as high as 53 if she can beats Jaqueline Cristian in Saturday's final. Romanian No 1 Cristian defeated Colombia's Camila Osorio 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 6-4 in the other semi.
