Madison Keys looked to be in US Open form early yesterday at the WTA Tour’s Stanford tournament, beating American compatriot CoCo Vandeweghe 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 for her third career title. The 22-year-old Keys was pleased with the win after battling injuries this year which caused her to miss the first two months of the season following wrist surgery. “It hasn’t been the easiest last couple of months, but this means a lot to me,” said Keys, who earned her first win of 2017. Keys also said the victory will give her confidence going into the US Open, the last Grand Slam of the year which begins in three weeks in New York.
“It finally feels like I’m on the right track and feeling good about my tennis again. It feels amazing to have a title at home and on hard courts. I’m really, really happy that this is kind of the start of my US Open Series.”
The world No. 21 Keys reached the final by eliminating reigning Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza in straight sets, so it didn’t come as a surprise she played her best tennis in the final. It was the first career WTA meeting between Keys and Vandeweghe but they are no strangers off the court. The two Fed Cup teammates shared a long embrace at the net after Keys closed out the win with back-to-back forehand winners.

Marathon magician Makarova downs Goerges to win Citi Open
Russian Ekaterina Makarova turned on the marathon magic again to defeat Julia Goerges 3-6 7-6(2) 6-0 and win the Citi Open in Washington DC on Sunday. Seventh seed Makarova came from a set behind for the third successive time to claim her first WTA title in more than three years and after being halted at the Citi semi-finals three times.
A twice grand slam semi-finalist, Makarova fended off seven aces from her fourth-seeded opponent and overcame seven double-faults. Battling to stay in the match, Makarova dominated the second set tie-break and then steamrolled Goerges to claim the title. Makarova’s road to the final included seeing off top seed Simona Halep who retired due to heat exhaustion in the third set of their quarter-final clash.

Sizzling Zverev takes fourth title of the year
Alexander Zverev issued a warning to top ATP rivals after winning the Citi Open for his fourth title of the year — he’s not the next generation, he’s the now generation.
The 20-year-old German defeated South Africa’s Kevin Anderson 6-4, 6-4 to capture the $355,460 (302,000 euros) top prize at the US Open tuneup event on the Washington hardcourts. World number eight Zverev dropped only nine points on his serve and never faced a break point in becoming the youngest player to win four ATP titles in a year, or take the Washington crown, since Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro did it at 19 in 2008.
Zverev won his first title last September in St. Petersburg and added trophies this year at Montpellier, Munich and Rome, where he downed Novak Djokovic in the final. He also ousted number four Stan Wawrinka at Miami and pushed Rafael Nadal to five sets in the third round of the Australian Open.
Only Wimbledon and Australian Open champion Roger Federer with five titles has won more ATP crowns this year than Zverev, and that’s only because the Swiss star handed the German his lone finals loss of 2017 at Halle in June.