Madison Keys overcomes injury scare to beat Coco Gauff at Eastbourne

Madison Keys shrugged off an injury scare to progress to her second Eastbourne final by upsetting fellow American Coco Gauff with a straight-sets win at the Rothesay International.

The 2014 champion, who suffered a nasty slip in the middle of the second set, triumphed 6-3 6-3 against the world number seven at a blustery Devonshire Park.

Former USA Open runner-up Keys had earlier on Friday been drawn to face British wildcard Sonay Kartal in the first round of Wimbledon.

With a strong forehand winner to break for 3-2, Keys seized control of the first set.

Keys saved a break point while consolidating for her lead at 4-2, and in the set’s last game, she broke Gauff once again with booming returns.

Gauff made a strong return to secure an early break in the second set, but at 2-1 she committed three straight double faults to give Keys the opportunity to regain serve. Keys recovered from slipping and falling on a vital hold for 3-2, and after Gauff fired a lob long, she claimed a decisive lead with a break for 5-3.

Keys regrouped, though and converted her fourth match point with an unreturnable serve to seal the victory.

“I’ve had a little bit of a not great year so far, so being able to make a final here where I won my first title is amazing,” the 28-year-old world number 25 said in her on-court interview.

“It’s definitely 10 times more difficult when you have to play Coco and then you throw in hurricane winds on top of it.

“I’m very happy that I was able to have a not incredibly complicated match and get the win. I’m really looking forward to the final tomorrow.”

Gauff, who defeated doubles partner Jessica Pegula to reach the semi-final, looked poised to stage a comeback.

However, after breaking serve in the first game of the second set, the 19-year-old blew a 40-0 lead and then hit a remarkable three double faults in a row at advantage to allow her opponent to level at 2-2.

Unseeded Keys was left holding her hip following a painful fall in the next game but recovered sufficiently to progress in an hour and 21 minutes.

Keys will face Daria Kasatkina in the final.

A point separated Kasatkina from a 6-2, 5-1 lead in the other semi-final, but Giorgi, ranked 67th in the world, battled back to tie the match at 5-5 in the second set.

However, Kasatkina won the final two games of the match to win. In each of the last three iterations, Giorgi has now lost in the Eastbourne semifinals.

With the semifinal victory, world No 11 Kasatkina is anticipated to reclaim a spot in the Top 10 in the singles rankings released on Monday.

In October of last year, Kasatkina achieved a career-high ranking of No. 8.

After losing to Belinda Bencic at the Adelaide International 2 in January, Kasatkina is playing in her second final of the year.

Like Keys, Kasatkina wants to win the seventh singles championship of her career.