WHAT HAPPENED: After a tight first set, Madison Keys fired past Misaki Doi as she carried her recent hot streak into New York. In the Louis Armstrong Stadium nightcap, the 24-year-old American won the final eight games to roll into Round 2 with a 7-5, 6-0 result.
Aggressive as ever, Keys struck 13 winners in both sets. When the No. 10 seed cut down on her errors in set two, her Japanese opponent simply could not keep up. Keys' 16 unforced errors in the opener let Doi hang tight early, but just six second-set freebies left the world No. 108 no hope late.
"I think she played really well in the first set," Keys said in a post-match press conference. "I think I raised my level in the second. Happy to win in straight sets."
The American dictated play from start to finish, restricting her opponent—who managed just three winners—to defensive tennis throughout much of the 64-minute contest.
Keys' second-set bagel was in doubt, as love-40 turned to deuce on the Doi serve, but on her fifth match point, Keys broke to secure the victory.
WHAT IT MEANS: Keys showed no signs of stopping after winning the biggest title of her career at the Western & Southern Open just eight days ago. At the WTA Premier 5 event Cincinnati, she defeated four former Grand Slam champions: Garbiñe Muguruza, Simona Halep, Venus Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova.
"There's definitely a lot of things that it's easy to remember what I was doing well, how to do those things, all of that," she said, describing the momentum she took from her Cincy success. "But [I'm] definitely kind of leaving that in the past and just focusing on US Open as a fresh start."
Keys came closest to major glory herself at the 2017 US Open, when she fell to her good friend Sloane Stephens in an all-American final. Seeking to reach the US Open semifinals or better for the third straight year, Keys has been among the final four at a major four times.
MATCH POINT: Keys is now on a seven-match winning streak, dating back to Cincinnati. It will take seven wins in New York, including Monday's win over Doi, to deliever Keys her first major title.
