Madison Keys
EASTBOURNE, England (AP) — American Madison Keys prevailed in a marathon tiebreaker Saturday to win the Eastbourne International final, beating ninth-seeded Daria Kasatkina 6-2, 7-6 (13) for her second title at the grass-court tournament.
The WTA said it was the second longest tiebreaker of the season so far.
It was Keys’ seventh career title — and third on grass.
“I love coming and playing in Eastbourne,” Keys said. “Being able to win the title here twice now makes me have very fond memories.”
Keys beat seventh-ranked Coco Gauff in straight sets Friday in her first grass-court victory over a top-10 player since defeating Angelique Kerber in the 2014 Eastbourne final.
Tommy Paul couldn’t make it an American double as he lost the men’s final to fourth-seeded Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4.
It was the second match of the day for both players, although Paul had to spend considerably more energy in his first.
Cerundolo only had to play one game to finish off his semifinal against American Mackenzie MacDonald, which was suspended when rain stopped play Friday. Cerundolo led 2-6, 7-5, 5-2 when the match was halted and quickly wrapped up the final set 6-2 when it resumed.
The second-seeded Paul then beat France’s Gregoire Barrere 6-4, 6-3 in the other semifinal before returning to the court for the title match.
Cerundolo earned his second career ATP tour title, having been two games away from losing against MacDonald when trailing 4-1 in the second set on Friday.
“I don’t know how I managed to turn it back,” Cerundolo said. “And today, I played a really good four points in the morning and today I think I played an amazing final. It was super tough, super windy.”
Paul was also looking for a second career title but his run to the final means he will equal his career-high ranking of No. 15 entering Wimbledon next week.