Keys dismisses Swiss Miss

DOHA, Qatar (AFP) — America’s Madison Keys made a triumphant return to play against sixth seed Belinda Bencic, clinching three games in a row as she opened her campaign, winning her first match since September 6-4, 6-1.

But Swiss Bencic, making her third appearance at the Qatar Open where she made the quarterfinals last year, began her fightback in the fourth game.

The fatigue of playing into the final at the Adelaide International last week and the punishing flight to Qatar surely contributed to Bencic’s visible fatigue.

It’s amazing to be back — I’m smiling under my mask.

Keys was more proficient in the big moments, meaning Bencic struggled in vain to steal a break, allowing the American to mop up five of the first seven games.

But Bencic bounced back when she was two games behind Keys, securing the ninth game and an ace in the 39th minute which could have helped her go level.

Keys overcame her resistance to steal the first set and her backhand side allowed her to maintain the pressure on Bencic in the second.

Keys closed out the final games with stellar serving, a superb forehand and a memorable backhand to take the penultimate game.

Her form was reminiscent of that which got her to the US Open final in 2017.

“It’s amazing to be back — I’m smiling under my mask,” said Keys whose coronavirus diagnosis meant she missed the Australian Open.

She will now face Maria Sakkari who also had a good win in her first-round match.

Qualifier Laura Siegemund also pulled off an upset, seeing off Elena Rybakina 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (7/5) having lost both her last encounters with Rybakina in 2019.

Wang Qiang, coached by Pat Cash, quickly applied pressure to Jessica Pegula during her opening service game but succumbed 6-3, 6-1.

But American Pegula fought back from several break points with defensive tennis, forcing Wang into errors with the Chinese player nonetheless scraping out an important win in the seventh game.

Wang served to stay in the set, taking it to eight games.