WHAT HAPPENED: In a battle of aggressive baseliners as evenly matched as their close rankings might suggest, No. 17 seed and 2017 US Open finalist Madison Keys edged No. 15 seed Liudmila Samsonova, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, in Round 3 in Louis Armstrong Stadium on Day 6 of the 2023 US Open.
"It was exactly as I expected it was going to go today," Keys said. "She can play very high level, and it was just kind of trying to weather the storm and seeing if I had an opportunity. Then when I did have the opportunity, being able to take that. Obviously, I’m very happy being able to get back into that match and play on my terms."
Both players benefited from largely uneventful service games until 5-5, when the 28-year-old American sliced a backhand wide to offer Samsonova her first break point opportunity. The 24-year-old righty accepted the 6-5 lead when Keys netted a backhand and later sealed the first set with a service winner.
Keys raised the partisan crowd’s hope and collective volume by securing her first lead at 3-1 when Samsonova floated a sliced backhand beyond the baseline. Samsonova saved the first set point at 2-5, but didn’t have an answer for the forehand that Keys then whipped crosscourt to clinch the second set.
Samsonova, who was treated by a trainer for a right shoulder issue during the changeover at 1-2 in the third set, dodged four break points before finally succumbing to unrelenting pressure from Keys. The Orlando resident then ran away with the momentum and two-hour-and-eight-minute marathon.
WHAT IT MEANS: Keys is playing on her favorite surface at the site of her best-ever Grand Slam result. In addition, three of her seven titles have come on hard court: Adelaide in 2022, Cincinnati in 2019 and Stanford in 2017.
Despite being only 28 years old, Keys has solid tour veteran status. After making her Tour-level debut as a wild card at Ponte Verdra Beach in 2009, she became the seventh youngest player to win a WTA main draw match (over Alla Kudryavtseva) at 14 years, 48 days, and reached a career-high ranking of No. 7 in October 2017.
In addition to her US Open results, Keys has reached three other Grand Slam semifinals (the Australian Open in 2015 and 2022, and Roland Garros in 2018) and another four quarterfinals (Australian Open in 2018, Roland Garros in 2019 and Wimbledon in 2015 and 2023).
Now in her 12th US Open main draw appearance, Keys awaits the winner of No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula and No. 26 seed Elina Svitolina in Round 4. She now owns 55 career wins over Top-20 players, including a dismissal of No. 7 Coco Gauff at Eastbourne this summer.
Samsonova is making her fourth US Open main draw appearance (fifth overall), where her previous best result was a fourth-round exit in 2022 courtesy of Ajla Tomljanovic. Overall, this is her 14th Grand Slam main draw appearance, with her record in third-round matches now standing at 2-1.
Samsonova is a three-time hard-court champion, all achieved in 2022: Tokyo, Cleveland and Washington, D.C. She owns 15 wins over Top 20 players, including defeating No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka and No. 4 Elena Rybakina en route to the Montreal final last month (where she lost to Pegula). Also in her lead-up to the US Open, she reached the semifinal at Washington, D.C., before yielding to Gauff.
MATCH POINT: At 22 years old in 2017, Keys became the youngest Flushing Meadows finalist (losing to Sloane Stephens) since Kim Clijsters overcame 19-year-old Caroline Caroline Wozniacki in 2009. It was the 10th all-American final in the Open Era.
