Madison Keys, 2017 Bank of the West Champion

Madison Keys (click to enlarge)

This is a few days late due to outside commitments, but I couldn’t let a title victory by my current favorite player in the world, Madison Keys, go unsung on my blog. The 22-year old American won her third WTA title, and first both on hard court and in the States, at the 2017 Stanford Bank of the West Classic. Not only did Maddie win, she played her best tennis of an injury plagued season in defeating the reigning Wimbledon champion, Garbiñe Muguruza, in the semifinals and then one of the hottest players on tour this year, Coco Vandeweghe, in the final. Both matches were very high quality, with Maddie’s 7-6 (4) 6-4 victory over Coco featuring only one service game break. And that came in the penultimate game of the match. Keys has been touted as the next big thing in women’s tennis and looked the part here. The question at this point is health and consistency. As a fan, I’m happy if she’s happy just being out there. But of course I hope she fulfills her vast potential.