Defending champion Madison Keys registered a 6-4, 6-1 win over Tereza Valentova to reach the Adelaide International quarter-finals for the second consecutive year on Wednesday.
Keys overcame seven double faults and saved five break points to secure the first set in 49 minutes. Valentova pushed hard to stay in the contest, but Keys ripped a forehand return winner off the 18-year-old’s second serve to break for a 2-0 lead in the second set. From there, she won four of the final five games to close out a hard-earned victory, according to the WTA.
“They’re just so young, and they have so much energy, and they’re so excited to be out here. And they’re just so good. So you definitely have to expect them to play some really great tennis and, like I said, try to lean on experience in those big moments and just kind of hope that gets you across the finish line,” said Keys.
Keys will next face another teenage sensation, Victoria Mboko, in their first meeting on the WTA Tour. The No. 8 seed saved two match points against Anna Kalinskaya to reach the quarter-finals in two hours and 22 minutes.
Earlier, Jaqueline Cristian defeated Daria Kasatkina for the first time, handing her a second-set bagel in a 6-4, 6-0 win that lasted one hour and 31 minutes. Cristian survived a chaotic opening set before pulling away decisively in the second.
This was Cristian’s second straight-sets victory of the week, following her upset of fourth seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the first round.
She will face Australia’s Kimberly Birrell in the quarter-finals after Marketa Vondrousova withdrew due to injury ahead of their second-round match.
Cristian and Birrell have split their two previous meetings, with the Romanian claiming a dominant 6-0, 6-1 win last year at Roland Garros.
