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By Chris Oddo | Saturday, June 21, 2014

 
Madison Keys, Eastbourne 2014

Madison Keys and CoCo Vandeweghe became the first American women to win WTA titles in the same week since 2002 on Saturday.

Photo Source: Ben Hoskins/ Getty

A pair of promising Americans made good on their potential this week, as 19-year-old Madison Keys and 22-year-old CoCo Vandeweghe notched maiden titles with scintillating grass court performances.

More: Did Serena Williams Get Snubbed by Wimbledon?

The simultaneous success marks the first time that American women have won two WTA titles in the same week since February of 2002.

Keys took down Germany’s Angelique Kerber in a thrilling three-set final in Eastbourne on Saturday, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, capping an impressive week that saw the young American notch two wins against top ten foes (Jankovic, Kerber) and improve her career record against the top ten to 3-10.

With the victory, Keys became the youngest American to win a title since 2006 (Vania King) and the youngest WTA player to win a grass-court title since 2009 (Caroline Wozniacki).

The Illinois native hammered 17 aces and lashed 60 winners in her takedown of Kerber, who is a former finalist at the event and a former Wimbledon semifinalist as well. Keys held her nerve in a testy final set, and finally broke Kerber's serve to seal the victory in the final game. With the victory Keys improves her career grass-court record to 10-3.

Vandeweghe came all the way from qualifying to win her title at the Topshelf Open, winning 27 of 28 first-serve points in the final against Zheng Jie of China. The hard-serving American did not face a break point over the course of the 6-2, 6-4 victory.

Vandeweghe hit 81 aces on the week, and though she has only played 17 tour-level matches on the season, she moves into the top five on the WTA tour with a total of 138.

“I was trying not to think about it being a final today,” said Vandeweghe. “I got the first set and thought to myself, ‘One set to the good, one more to go, try and get the early break now and keep the pressure on her.’”

Vandeweghe, who took out No. 7-seeded Garbine Muguruza and No. 8-seeded Klara Koukalova en route to the final, will have a rematch with Muguruza at Wimbledon waiting, as she was drawn to face the 20-year-old Spaniard in the first round at the All England Club.

Keys will face another rising WTA star at Wimbledon in Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig.

If she can keep serving the way she did in Eastbourne, she’ll have a good shot to improve upon her career-best third-round appearance at Wimbledon this year. Kerber agrees: “It’s not easy when somebody is serving like she did the whole match,” Kerber said. “Like I said before the match, she is really dangerous. She’s young and she has great talent, so for sure she will be dangerous in the future.”

Keys, the youngest player in the WTA’s top 50 already, is projected to make her top 30 debut when next week’s rankings are released.

 

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