Madison Keys claims Eastbourne title without dropping a set after overcoming Daria Kasatkina

Madison Keys claimed her second Eastbourne title nine years after the first by beating Daria Kastkina 6-3 7-6(13) on Saturday in a major boost ahead of Wimbledon.

The American has enjoyed a superb run at the grass-court WTA 500 event, not dropping a set in wins over Tereza Martincova, Wang Xiyu, Petra Martic, Coco Gauff and world No. 11 Kasatkina.

Keys celebrated her seventh career title and the third on grass after beating the Russian in one hour and 42 minutes, eventually sealing it on her fifth match point.

“I love coming and playing in Eastbourne,” Keys said. “Being able to win the title here twice now makes me have very fond memories.

“If you told [me] two weeks ago that this is where I would be, [I] would not believe it. It’s been a pretty tough year for me…and being able to hold this trophy is absolutely amazing.”

The 28-year-old will hope to bring that form into Wimbledon, where she faces Britain’s Sonay Kartal in the first round on Tuesday.

Keys is seeded 25th at the All England Club, where she will make just her second appearance in the last four years and hope to emulate a best-ever run to the quarter-finals in 2015.

Her victory over Kasatkina continued a fine record, stretching her head-to-head advantage to 9-2.

The American didn’t face a single break point until Kastakina finally found a response when 6-2 4-1 down and with Keys seemingly cruising to victory.

Kasatkina fought back by winning three games in a row to get a foothold and push the second set to a tie-break.

There were 28 points played before Keys eventually triumphed, squandering four set points before winning a 30-shot rally to complete the victory in style with a 34th winner of the day.

Kasatkina will be up against American Caroline Dolehine in the first round at Wimbledon on Monday, where she is the 11th seed.

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