Venus Fights Back to Beat Keys in Zhuhai
Venus Williams staged a huge comeback in her opening-round match at the Elite Trophy tournament in Zhuhai, China on Tuesday, battling back to upend fellow American Madison Keys 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-1.
It was Keys who came out strong early on, coasting through the opening set 6-3 in just a little over a half an hour. And in the second set, she build a 6-5 lead and was up 30-0 on Venus’ serve.
But the 35-year old showed her grit, coming back to hold serve and force the second set into a tiebreaker.
And Venus would dominate the third set, winning six of the seven games to secure the victory.
“This was the perfect match to start the tournament,” said Venus. “Madison and I play so similarly. It was such a competitive match, and I came so close to losing, and I’m so happy to stand here as the winner.”
Up next for Venus is China’s top player Zheng Saisai.
Also in Zuhhai, Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina defeated Germany’s Andrea Petkovic 7-6(4), 6-3 and Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic knocked off Sara Errani of Italy 6-4, 7-5.
