Aug 19, 2022; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Madison Keys (USA) returns a shot during her match against Elena Rybakina (KAZ) at the Western & Southern Open at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
(Reuters) -American Madison Keys swept past Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina 6-2 6-4 at the Cincinnati Open on Friday, setting up a semi-final clash with Petra Kvitova after the Czech defeated Ajla Tomljanovic.
After dispatching world number one Iga Swiatek in the third round, the 27-year-old Keys carried that momentum into the quarter-finals with a dominating win over 25th-ranked Rybakina.
Both Keys and Rybakina had reached the quarter-finals without dropping a set and it would the American keeping the unblemished record.
"I knew she is a remarkable player and she can turn it around at any moment so I knew I had to try to stay out in front because at any moment she can go on a roll," said Keys, finalist at the 2017 U.S. Open.
"I think that is kind of the key against her. If you back off at all then she gets to dictate and run you around."
One of the WTA Tour's big-hitters, ranking number two on the season ace list, Rybakina struggled with her serve the entire match, hitting just one ace while piling up four double faults.
In the first contest on a muggy Centre Court, Keys got out to a flying start, breaking Rybakina twice on the way to a 4-0 lead before the Kazakhstan player was finally able to hold serve.
After surrendering the opener Rybakina rallied in the second with an early break to jump out in front 2-0.
But Keys dug in, sweeping the next five games to retake control 5-2 and after a late wobble closed out the contest on her fourth match point when Rybakina hit her return into the net.
Later, Kvitova reached the last four in Cincinnati for the third time in her career with a 6-2 6-3 victory over Australian qualifier Tomljanovic.
Twice Wimbledon champion Kvitova knocked out Tomljanovic in just over an hour as she fired in 12 aces.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto and Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
