ADELAIDE, Australia — Madison Keys fought through a leg injury to beat Jessica Pegula 6-3 4-6 6-1 in an all-American Adelaide International final, continuing her good form.
Keys, who also won the Adelaide title in 2022 and made the quarter-finals in Auckland last week, sent down 10 aces and fired off 26 winners as she took an hour and 43 minutes to beat world number seven Pegula.
The title was the ninth of Keys’ career and set her up perfectly for a first-round meeting with American Ann Li at Melbourne Park on Tuesday.
“I haven’t been back (to Adelaide) since 2022, and I was lucky enough to lift the trophy then,” said Keys, who is seeded 19th at the year’s first Grand Slam.
“And now I’m back, and I’m holding it once again. So I feel like I should just keep coming back to Adelaide. Clearly, I do well here,” Keys added according to Reuters.
The 29-year-old took 30 minutes to seal the opening set but needed an off-court medical timeout after losing the first three games of the second, returning with her left leg strapped up.
Pegula went on to take the set and force a decider but Keys responded well in the third, winning the last five games in a row.
Elsewhere, Gael Monfils became the oldest man in nearly five decades to win an ATP Tour-level title with his 6-3, 6-4 defeat of Zizou Bergs at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.
Ken Rosewall, an Australian great, was 43 when he won the Hong Kong trophy in 1977. Monfils, who won his 13th tour title, is 38.
But against Bergs, Monfils seemed ageless, winning 88 percent of points on his first serve and saving six break chances in the 97-minute contest. Bergs, a 25-year-old Belgian, converted only 71 percent of his first serves into points.
Monfils and Bergs now move on to the Australian Open. Monfils drew fellow Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard as his first-round opponent, while Bergs will face Facundo Diaz Acosta of Argentina.
An emotional Jodie Burrage revealed she considered retirement after battling to recover from more injury setbacks last season.
The 25-year-old was at a career-high ranking of 84 when she suffered a wrist injury in February that needed surgery – the fourth operation of her career – and she was just on the point of a return when her ankle ligament ruptured during a training session with Katie Boulter.
That ruled her out of the final three grand slams of the season but it was as she tried to battle her way back up the rankings by playing at lower-tier events that the darkest moments came.
She recalled a training session in London, saying: “I was basically crying mid-session saying, ‘I don’t know how much more fight I’ve got’.
“I fought so hard to get back to a position where I could even play the sport, and then I was winning matches, obviously those ITF (International Tennis Federation) events, making semis and stuff, but it’s not where I wanted to be and wasn’t happy with how I was playing.
“I didn’t know how much more fight I had. It takes a lot. But that’s the funny thing about tennis. Literally five days later, start in Slovakia, make final, and then I win the biggest title of my career in Dubai.
“It’s very up and down. It was hard. Those six months were really, really hard.”
That success in Dubai in November coupled with two wins at the WTA Tour event in Auckland to start the season have lifted Burrage’s ranking back up to 173, while her protected ranking from before her injury lay-off earned her direct entry into the Australian Open.
She is enjoying being back in the big time, with privileges like transport from the airport and new balls for practice sessions a notable difference from the lower tier events she has been playing.
Burrage will open her campaign on Monday against French qualifier Leolia Jeanjean and is motivated to try to reach new heights.
“For some reason, I love this crazy sport,” said Burrage. “That’s what kept me going. The fight, being here, working hard, working towards something. I feel like I’ve got so much more to give in this sport.
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