MELBOURNE, Australia — Madison Keys continued her strong run through the Australian Open draw, returning to the quarterfinals for the first time in three years with a 6-3, 6-2 win Monday over Caroline Garcia.
The 2017 U.S. Open finalist has yet to drop a set at Melbourne Park and is averaging a brisk 62.5 minutes on court through her first four rounds.
Going into the match against Garcia, she had only dropped 14 games – the second fewest among the women through three rounds, just behind Angelique Kerber’s 13 games.
Keys will meet Kerber in the quarterfinals. The 21st-seeded German beat Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.
Keys is seeded just 17th after undergoing wrist surgery and missing several months on tour last year, but she is playing pain-free again and looking increasingly confident.
Keys, the only American woman to reach the fourth round, said she feels like she’s playing without pressure since returning from her wrist injury.
“I definitely realize how much l love it and how much pressure I put on myself” in the past, she said. “Just being really happy to be back out here and not at home in a cast.”
Keys lost her serve in the opening game of the match against the eighth-seeded Garcia but broke the Frenchwoman five times as she raced through the next two sets. She had 32 winners to just nine for Garcia.
On Sunday, men’s No. 3 seed Grigor Dimitrov eliminated the last remaining Australian, defeating Nick Kyrgios 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (4).
Top-seeded Rafael Nadal also advanced to the quarterfinals, beating Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-3 in 3 hours and 51 minutes.
“It was a good test for me. It was a lot of hours on court, moments under pressure,” Nadal said.
Nadal will next play 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic, who collected his 100th Grand Slam match win with a 6-7 (2), 6-3, 7-6 (0), 7-6 (3) victory over No. 10 Pablo Carreno Busta.
Caroline Wozniacki, the No. 2 women’s seed, reached the quarterfinals for the first time since 2012 with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Magdalena Rybarikova.
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