Caroline Wozniaki Beats Madison Keys To Enter U.S. Open Quarter Finals

Caroline Wozniacki ranked No. 74, defeated No. 8 seed Madison Keys 6-3, 6-4 to advance to her fifth U.S. Open quarterfinal. Though both women have been on tour for years, this was their first meeting. It didn’t take long to see that this was a contest of contrasts. The 26-year-old Wozniacki has fallen outside the Top 50 for the first time in almost a decade, and she’s looking to right a sinking ship. Keys, at just 21, is still enjoying an unmarred rise, having cracked the Top 10 for the first time this year. Despite it all, the first set went quickly in Wozniacki’s favor. The Dane stayed patient, weathering Keys’ strong serve and watching the American hit 15 unforced errors to just 16 winners. On her good days, Keys has a stronger serve than just about anyone on tour—excluding, perhaps, Serena Williams. Yet she struggled with it when she needed it the most on Sunday, just 58 percent of her first-serve points in the first set. Contrast that with Wozniacki’s whopping 93 percent conversion rate, and it’s easy to see how she wrapped up the set 6-3.