Madison Keys overcomes injury scare to beat Coco Gauff at Eastbourne

Madison Keys shrugged off an injury scare to progress to her second Eastbourne final by upsetting fellow American Coco Gauff with a straight-sets win at the Rothesay International.

The 2014 champion, who suffered a nasty slip in the middle of the second set, triumphed 6-3 6-3 against the world number seven at a blustery Devonshire Park.

Former US Open runner-up Keys had earlier on Friday been drawn to face British wildcard Sonay Kartal in the first round of Wimbledon.

She will take on Russian Daria Kasatkina, who overcame Italy’s Camila Giorgi in the other last-four clash, in Saturday’s final.

“I’ve had a little bit of a not great year so far, so being able to make a final here where I won my first title is amazing,” the 28-year-old world number 25 said in her on-court interview.

“It’s definitely 10 times more difficult when you have to play Coco and then you throw in hurricane winds on top of it.

“I’m very happy that I was able to have a not incredibly complicated match and get the win. I’m really looking forward to the final tomorrow.”

Gauff, who defeated doubles partner Jessica Pegula to reach the semi-final, looked poised to stage a comeback.

However, after breaking serve in the first game of the second set, the 19-year-old blew a 40-0 lead and then hit a remarkable three double faults in a row at advantage to allow her opponent to level at 2-2.

Unseeded Keys was left holding her hip following a painful fall in the next game but recovered sufficiently to progress in an hour and 21 minutes.

“I just took a slip and my hip went in the direction it shouldn’t have gone in,” she said. “Hopefully it’s fine for tomorrow.”

World number 11 Kasatkina dug in to see off Giorgi in Friday’s second semi-final, progressing 6-2 7-5.

The 26-year-old, playing her first tournament in Britain since 2021 following last year’s ban on Russian and Belarusian players, breezed through the opening set in just over half-an-hour.

Yet she was forced to hold off a fightback in a tight second after Giorgi battled back from 4-1 down to level at 5-5.