Clutching the historic Maud Watson trophy in both hands and sporting the widest of smiles, Madison Keys declared herself well satisfied with her week’s efforts at the Aegon Classic Birmingham.
The 21-year-old American made short work of Barbora Strycova to take her second WTA Premier level title and her second on grass to reinforce her leap into the world’s top ten.
“I really love this surface so the more I get to play on it, the happier I am,” seventh seed Keys declared after her 6-3, 6-4 win, which follows her 2014 triumph at Eastbourne.
“I'm feeling pretty good. I think getting this many matches in a row was a huge opportunity that I think can definitely help me at Wimbledon.
“I don't think I played the greatest match ever.
"I think I served well, especially when it mattered, so I'm really happy with my performance.”
Watson, the first woman to win Wimbledon, would have approved of the way Keys has gone about her business at the Edgbaston Priory Club.
Czech world No.30 Strycova, who also reached the doubles final, had a bandaged right thigh and a patched-up right shoulder as well as a mental disadvantage - she has lost twice to her younger rival in recent weeks at both Rome and Madrid.
#AegonClassic is @Madison_Keys first title of 2016! https://t.co/Is7BRbVrDQ
— WTA (@WTA) June 19, 2016
Sportingly, Strycova admitted: “She was too good for me. I didn't have many chances to change anything. My game is to try to put every ball in there and then try to, like, get into her head. But I can't play tennis like she is. She's playing really powerful tennis. I don't have the power for that.”
Seventh seed Keys charged through the first set without conceding a break point having immediately broken Strycova’s serve, but found things slightly more difficult in the second.
Strycova’s tactic to take the pace off the ball began to pay dividends, especially her drop shots. Unfortunately for the 30-year-old, she failed to convert any of four break points and then served a double fault in the ninth game to set up Keys for a break.
Both finalists have reached the last eight of Wimbledon and Keys has already targeted more than that, following in the footsteps of players like champions Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf and Maria Sharapova, who have also won the Birmingham tournament.
Keys added: “It definitely gives me some confidence and I would love to follow this one up with that. It feels good knowing that a lot of people
who have done well here have done well at Wimbledon. So it definitely gives me a good feeling.”
Strycova believes Keys has the game to do well but sounded a warning: “Yeah, she's 21 years old and she's already top ten. She can play on any surface, and especially grass, I think, suits her game because she serves very well.
“Winning this tournament, I think she can do good, but sometimes the mental thing to be playing in Grand Slam and Wimbledon can take you, like every one of us. I wish her to play good and I think she can be in the second week.”
