Unseeded American teenage sensation, Madison Keys sprang a surprise at Eastbourne by beating fifth seed Angelique Kerber of Germany to win the final of Aegon International Tournament. The men’s title at Eastbourne was successfully defended by Spain’s Feliciano Lopez, who beat the tournament top seed Richard Gasquet of France. In the other pre-Wimbledon grass-court tournament at Topshelf in the Netherlands, another Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut beat Benjamin Becker of Germany to lift the men’ singles trophy while the doubles’ crown was claimed by the Dutch-Romanian pair of Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau.
19-year old Madison Keys scored her maiden WTA Tour victory in the Aegon international tournament at Eastbourne, where she met fifth-seeded German Angelique Kerberin the final. Keys has had a good tournament week before progressing to the final. In the semifinal, she destroyed the dreams of Britain’s Heather Watson, whom she easily beat 6-3, 6-1. In the final, however, Keys had to stretch herself fully against the experienced Kerber before finally prevailing 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. The 2012 finalist Kerber was a bit surprised at the American’s energy and lost the first set 3-6 before bouncing back in the second to level the set score. But Keys raised her game several notches to win the final set 7-5 to become the first American since Chanda Rubin, who won the tournament in 2002 and 2003. Keys played a forceful game in reeling out 60 winners with 17 aces against her more experienced opponent. One of her serves was clocked at 126 mph, which is the fastest speed this year on the WTA circuit. The win augurs well for Keys, who plays her first-round match at Wimbledon on Tuesday against Ajla Tomljanovic of Croatia.
In men’s singles final, Spain’s Feliciano Lopez retained his crown by beating tournament top seed Richard Gasquet of France 6-3, 6-7, 7-5. Lopez benefitted from two service breaks against the Frenchman in the first set, which he won 6-3. But Gasquet fought back in the second set after the two players traded break of serves. The set went to a tie-break and Gasquet held on to win it at 7-5. In the final set, Gasquet missed a break point in the second game and allowed the set to go on serves until they were level at 5-5. At this point, Lopez got a break opportunity, which he converted and then won the set and the title on his own serve.
In Eastbourne, the men’s doubles title was won by Brit-Filipino men’s pair of Dom Inglot and Treat Huey. Inglot/Huey beat tournament top seeds Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares 7-5 5-7 10-8. In the women’s doubles, the Chinese Taipei pair of H Chan and Y Chan won the title by beating Martina Hingis and Flavia Pennetta 6–3, 5–7, [10–7]
Lopez’s compatriot, Roberto Bautista Agut won the Topshelf Open to record his maiden ATP title. In the final, world no. 28 Bautista Agut had a strong challenge from Benjamin Becker, who completely outplayed him in the first set. But the Spaniard played a tough second set and did not yield any break point to the German. The set was decided on tie-break in Bautista Agut’s favor at 7-2. With set scores level, Bautista Agut played a much better third set with strong service and all-court game, before forcing a break point against Becker. Converting the opportunity led Bautista Agut to the Topshelf Open title.
The men’s doubles title at Topshelf Open was won by the top-seeded Dutch-Romanian duo of Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau. The pair won their 4th ATP title playing together by scoring easy straight sets 6-3, 7-6 victory over Santiago Gonzalez and Scott Lipsky in the final. Rojer and Tecau took just 75 minutes to win the title to take their season’s haul to four after recording victories in Zagreb, Casablanca and Bucharest. They also made it to the final in Rotterdam but lost the title match to Llodra/Mahut.
