The Day

Madison Keys, Daniil Medvedev get first titles at Western & Southern Open

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Two unexpected champions embraced their first Rookwood championsh­ip trophies, concluding a week that brought more questions than clarity to the upcoming U.S. Open.

Who's going to be healthy on the women's side? Will stumbles in the men's bracket at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati carry over to New York?

And are Madison Keys and Daniil Medvedev capable of carrying their newfound momentum into a Grand Slam event? After winning the biggest tournament title of their careers, they were already getting asked about how it might transfer to the bigger stage.

Keys rallied late in both sets and beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-5, 7-6 (5) Sunday for her second title of the season and easily the biggest of her career. After flameouts in her last three tournament­s and a tough draw for the week, she couldn't imagine the outcome.

Back on the court to receive the trophy , she told the crowd: "If you told me this is where I would be a week ago, I would have laughed in your face!"

Yet there she was, back in the Top 10 on a surprising upswing heading to New York.

She'll move up to the No. 10 ranking after a gritty showing that was typical of her week. She broke Kuznetsova to pull even in both sets at 5-5 and then pulled them out with a steady serve.

Keys hadn't made it past the second round in her last three tournament­s, including Wimbledon. Now she's got a good feeling with her favorite Grand Slam event at hand.

The men's bracket in Cincinnati was billed as a reunion of the Big Four — Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray back together for the first time since January. None of them made it to the final. Nadal won the Rogers Cup last Sunday and withdrew from the Western & Southern, citing fatigue.

Murray played singles for the first time since hip surgery in January and lost his opening match. Seven-time champion Federer was knocked out in the quarterfin­als, and Djokovic lost to Medvedev in the semifinals with the crowd cheering him on.

The Russian thanked the crowd for its support after beat David Goffin 7-6 (3), 6-4 for his first Masters 1000 title Sunday. It was his third straight final, but the first time he'd won. Medvedev lost to Nadal on Montreal a week earlier, then went on to reach his sixth final of this season, most on the ATP tour. He's won twice.

"To finally lift the trophy this week is an amazing feeling," Medvedev said.

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