‘Three out of eight for US is pretty good’

WHILE most eyes were on the Williams sisters, Coco Vandeweghe and Madison Keys quietly showed there are more American players to pay attention to at Wimbledon.

Vandeweghe and Keys both reached the quarter-finals for the first time at the All England Club, wrapping up their victories on outside courts just as Serena Williams’ match against sister Venus was getting started on Centre Court. With Serena also winning, it’s the first time since 2004 that three American women have made the last eight at Wimbledon.

“It’s been a while since there has been that many Americans in the second week, and it’s just really exciting,” said Keys, who beat Olga Govortsova 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. “I think it’s going to kind of inspire everyone else to keep doing well and keep working hard. It’s great that Coco went out and won today as well.”

Or, as Serena put it: “Three out of eight is pretty good.”

Vandeweghe, who beat Lucie Safarova 7-6, 7-6, knows she can’t ride anyone else’s coat tails.

“It’s good to see other Americans doing well for the sport of tennis in the United States, but for me, it doesn’t affect me either way,” Vandeweghe said. “Because it’s not a team sport. At the end of the day, it’s an individual sport.”

Unlike Serena, the 20-yearold Keys and 23-year-old Vandeweghe will both be underdogs in the next round. Vandeweghe faces Maria Sharapova, the 2004 champion and former No 1, while Keys is up against Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, who lost to Williams in the 2012 Wimbledon final and reached the semi-finals in 2013.

Vandeweghe had never been past the third round of a Grand Slam before Wimbledon, while Keys made the semi-finals of this year’s Australian Open before losing to Williams.

Vandeweghe advanced despite what she called “one of my worst matches that I played the whole tournament so far”.