🏆 Eastbourne Champion🏆 Madison Keys earns her 7th career title defeating Kasatkina 6-2, 7-6(13) #RothesayInternational | @Madison_Keys
Madison Keys wins Eastbourne International for second time with win over Kasatkina in final with epic 28 point tiebreak
WTASaturday, 01 July 2023 at 15:45
Madison Keys has claimed the 2023 Eastbourne International title for a second time after outlasting Daria Kasatkina in the final on Saturday afternoon 6-2, 7-6(13).
It is a seventh career title for the American who will head to Wimbledon aiming to continue that form. It is a third grass court title for Keys who improved her head to head to 9-2 against Kasatkina in a one hour, 42 minute epic.
Keys dominated for most of the match and didn't face a break point for a set and a half opening up a 6-2, 4-1 lead and looked to be easing home.
But the epic portion came in the form of the tie-break as Keys faced and saw off two break points against her serve before Kasatkina grabbed a foothold.
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She won three straight games to level the set and made it five out of six to force a tie-break and priorly had a chance to make it a deciding set.
In a 28-point tie-break, the second longest of the season, Keys ended up going 3-0 and 5-2 up but failed to win it at 6-5, 7-6 and 8-7 as wind affected play.
The twist and turn continued with Kasatkina having set points at 9-8, 10-9, 11-10 and 12-11 before Keys finally got over the line.
A 30-shot rally on the fifth and final match point summed up the contest which was a treat on the South Coast towards the end.
"I love coming and playing in Eastbourne. Being able to win the title here twice now makes me have very fond memories," Keys said afterwards, thanking her team and fiancè, ATP pro Bjorn Fratangelo also.
"If you told both of us two weeks ago that this is where I would be, we would not believe it. It's been a pretty tough year for me ... and being able to hold this trophy is absolutely amazing."
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