Siegemund plays Keys to perfection while Osaka is ‘upset' by Wimbledon defeat

The Guardian

10 hours ago

When it comes to Wimbledon, Madison Keys has not had the best luck. Last year, she was 5-2 up in the final set against Jasmine Paolini in the fourth round only to pull her hamstring, watching on in disappointment as the Italian reached the final. In 2022, she missed Wimbledon altogether due to an abdominal injury.
Winning the Australian Open in January for her first grand slam title was meant to free her up, perhaps marking a turn in fortunes, but on Friday she was beaten 6-3, 6-3 by the 37-year-old Laura Siegemund. A couple of hours later, reporters were informed that the American would not be doing her mandatory press conference due to illness.
Keys had struggled through her opening two matches and, whatever the reason, she was well below par against Siegemund. The German can get under the skin of her ­opponents at the best of times, her drop shots outstanding and the strength of her grunting at the louder end of the spectrum, and Keys looked out of sorts from the start.
In all, the sixth seed sprayed 31 unforced errors in two sets, threw in four double faults and won just one point from 19 on her second serve. Siegemund took full advantage, becoming the oldest woman in the open era to reach the last 16 at Wimbledon for the first time, testament to the longevity and perseverance of a woman who lost 10 times in qualifying at slams before making the main draw here for the first time in 2015.
'You can't not be happy when you beat a great player like Madison,' said Siegemund, who will now play Katie Boulter's conqueror, the lucky loser Solana Sierra from Argentina. 'It was not easy today, it was quite windy and swirly, at times it wasn't the best quality. But I managed and in the end I found solutions and kept my nerves.'
Keys was not the only big name to fall. Naomi Osaka had been showing good improvement on grass this year but was worn down 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 by Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Osaka fought back from 3-0 down to level at 3-3 in the decider but could not force it home.
'Right now I'm just really upset,' Osaka said, asked to sum up her thoughts on the short grass-court season. 'I think if I look back on it, I can be happy with how I played. I started getting a lot more comfortable on grass.
'It's because I actually thought I could play well in general. Not saying I didn't play well, but make a deep run here. I wanted to do better than I did before. Also, I felt like I was trying so hard. I low-key busted a vein in my hand.'
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Osaka will now head to the hard courts, a time in the season in which she normally thrives, having won the US Open twice. But having lost in the second round in New York last year, she is wary of making any projections.
'Obviously, I look forward to it,' she said. 'I think last year I put a lot of stress on myself because I know I have a history of playing well there, and then also the Asian Swing. I am looking forward to it, but I don't want to kind of psych myself out.'
Amanda Anisimova continued her superb grass-court season with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 win over Dalma Galfi of Hungary. The American, runner-up at Queen's Club, will play Linda Noskova next.