By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, June 19, 2016
Madison Keys conquered Barbora Strycova, 6-3, 6-4, to collect her second career title in Birmingham.
Photo credit: Christopher Levy
Grass is Madison Keys' favorite surface and rewards her explosiveness.
The 21-year-old Keys transformed the turf in Birmingham into a launching pad.
More: Keys Cracks Top 10
A day after clinching her Top 10 debut, a commanding Keys powered past Barbora Strycova, 6-3, 6-4, to capture her second career title.
Striking with margin and menace, Keys blitzed through the opening set, saved all four break points she faced in the second set and raced through 10 consecutive points to close out her first title since she beat Angelique Kerber in the 2014 Eastbourne title match.
Strycova won the toss and elected to receive, hoping the big-serving Keys might come out cold in her first grass-court final since Eastbourne.
Keys' flame-thrower serve and a break in Strycova's first service ignited a 3-0 burst.
Overwhelming on serve at the outset, Keys whipped the wide serve effectively on both sides to spread the court for her first strike. She won 20 of 23 point splayed on her serve in the opening set, including 10 consecutive points to seal the set, closing on a crackling inside-out forehand.
Playing with taping wrapping her right thigh and snaking around her right shoulder, the 30-year-old Czech showed the wear and tear of reaching both the singles and doubles final playing 16 sets along the way.
Strycova, the first woman to contest Birmingham singles and doubles finals since Maria Sharapova swept both titles in 2004, is a fidgety, feisty presence, who pumped herself up for this final watching Arnold Schwarzenegger star in Terminator.
“It was kind of like a test if my physical coach is good. Obviously, he's very good,” a smiling Strycova said after storming back from a 0-5 deficit for a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 over another American power player, CoCo Vandeweghe, in her semifinal. “And I'm here now and I feel pretty okay, surprisingly.”
Alternately barking at herself between points, prodding the strings of her Wilson racquet and tugging at her shoelaces, Strycova made a stance against stress and four break points to start the second set.
A bad-bounce ace that catapulted off a barren spot of dirt and nearly knocked Keys in the nose erased the fourth break point as Strycova stubbornly fought through and eight-and-a-half minute hold for 1-0.
Rushing through points and finding the net more often, Keys got into a jam in the second game. She saved three break point points, plastering a forehand swing volley to hold for 1-all.
Impatience can sometimes pose problems for Keys under pressure. She hit such a heavy ball, particularly off her forehand wing, it's tempting for her to line up the down the line drive and blast her way out of trouble.
While she's one of the biggest hitters in the game, Keys plays her most dynamic tennis when she's playing combinations, using the wide serve to set up her forehand or cranking a series of crosscourt forehands to create space for the backhand.
Strycova had some success testing the Keys two-handed backhand with low balls in the eighth game. A cluster of three backhand errors put Keys in a break-point bind, but she slid a forehand down the line to set up a backhand winner and deny it. Keys worked through that challenging game holding for 4-all.
Invigorated, she did not drop a point for the rest of the match.
A Strycova double faulted ended a horrid game as she donated a love break and 5-4 lead to the seventh seed.
Stepping into the court, an aggressive Keys snapped off a smash from near the baseline sealing her second title in style.
Keys becomes the first American to make her Top 10 debut since Serena Williams did it 17 years ago on April 5, 1999.
The world No. 1 has declared Keys a future No. 1. After defeating Keys in last month's Rome final, Williams told her compatriot on court "You're gonna get to number one in the world so easy."
If Keys plays with the clarity and command she showed this week, she just might look back on Birmingham someday as the tournament that launched her toward the top.