Keys seals Cincinnati triumph

Madison Keys defeated four Grand Slam champions on her way to winning the title in Ohio

Madison Keys rallied from a break down in both sets to defeat Svetlana Kuznetsova and win her second title of the season at the Western & Southern Open.

The American 16th seed trailed the two-time Grand Slam champion 5-3 in both sets but recovered to win the biggest title of her career, adding to the Volvo Car Open which she claimed in April.

Keys will head to the US Open, where she was the runner-up in 2017, back in the world’s top 10 courtesy of her 7-5 7-6 (7-5) victory against the 34-year-old Russian.

“If you told me a week ago this is where I would be, I would have laughed in your face!” said Keys, who lost in the first round of the Rogers Cup in Toronto last week.

Keys defeated former Grand Slam champions Garbine Muguruza, Simona Halep and Venus Williams on her way to reaching Sunday’s showpiece.

The 24-year-old has now won five tour-level titles and hit 13 aces and 45 winners against Kuznetsova, who began the week ranked world No 153 and was targeting her 19th title.