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Eight days after defeating fellow American and friend CoCo Vandeweghe for the Stanford title, Madison Keys beat her again at the Western & Southern Open.

The rematch between No. 17 Keys and No. 21 Vandeweghe was as dramatic as anticipated, requiring a decisive third set at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason. Vandeweghe staved off three match points before Keys prevailed in a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory on Center Court.

“It’s never easy,” Keys said of playing the same opponent in short order. “You’re kind of expecting something similar but she could obviously come out and do some things different. It’s kind of nerve wracking, to be honest.”

Big-serving Vandeweghe changed her tactics a bit, forcing longer rallies, but Keys adjusted. She went up a break after Vandeweghe struggled to find consistency and dumped the ball into the net.

Although Keys held serve to finish out the first set, firing a backhand winner and pumping her fist in triumph, she struggled to convert break points in the second set.

That’s when Vandeweghe seized control. Eleven of Keys’ first 18 unforced errors were courtesy of her backhand.

Keys requested her coach after the second set and then broke Vandeweghe for the 3-0 advantage. Although Vandeweghe battled back, Keys served out the win.

“It’s never fun (playing a friend), especially when you’re as close as CoCo and I are…but it happens and we’re used to it. And at the end of the day, at least one American gets through,” Keys said.



SPEAKING OF AMERICANS: Eleven U.S. players began main draw match play Monday. Six advanced to the second round.

In addition to Keys’ defeat of Vandeweghe, wild card Tommy Paul defeated countryman Donald Young 6-4, 7-6 (4), qualifier Mitchell Krueger downed Frenchman Benoit Paire 6-2, 6-1, wild card Frances Tiafoe ousted qualifier Maximilian Marterer 6-3, 7-6 (2), and World No. 20 Sam Querrey sailed past fellow American Stefan Kozlov 6-3, 6-0.

Lauren Davis exited the tournament after a straight sets loss to Beatriz Haddad. But fellow U.S. player Taylor Townsend edged Monica Puig in a battle of qualifiers, clinching a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory in nearly two hours.

Lucky loser Ramkumar Ramanathan defeated American qualifier Christopher Eubanks 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-4 in the last match on Center Court.



A DEEPER DIVE: Paul defeated Young on Grandstand Court to start the day, denying Young his career-first W&S Open win. Young, 28, is now 0-4 at the tournament.

Paul, 20, harnessed his hot play of late – quarterfinal appearances in Atlanta and Washington – and claimed the first set. The real drama came in the second-set tiebreaker after Young rallied from a 0-4 deficit.

Paul’s tiebreak advantage eventually dangled precariously at 5-4, but he closed out the match efficiently. His reward? A meeting with another American foe, hard-serving World No. 19 John Isner, at 7 p.m. Tuesday on Center Court.

World No. 20 Querrey spoiled the debut of Kozlov, who lost in W&S Open qualifying rounds in 2015 and 2016 and made the main draw by virtue of his wild card.

Querrey broke his 19-year-old opponent in the seventh game of the first set to set the tone for victory. While five of Querrey’s seven aces came in the first set, Kozlov was simply overwhelmed in the second set. The match took just 51 minutes to complete.



SIGNS OF AGING?: The withdrawal of seven-time Western & Southern Open champion Roger Federer (back ailment) ensures Rafael Nadal’s return to the No. 1 spot in the next ATP World Tour rankings.

Nadal, the 2013 W&S Open champion, spoke to media Monday at the Paul Flory Player Center. Not only is he the tournament’s top-seeded player, but he’s now the only Top 6 ranked player in the men’s draw. Two-time W&S Open champ Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Novak Djokovic and Federer have been sidelined with injuries.

Although Nadal called their absences a coincidence and “unlucky for the tournament,” the Spaniard also said age probably played a role. Aside from defending W&S Open champion Cilic (28), they’re all 30 and older.

“Of course we are not 20 years old anymore. Andy is 30, or going to be 30. Novak too. I am 31. Roger is 36. So we’re not playing all the weeks,” Nadal said. “That’s part of our sport too. I have been in that position a lot of times. I had to skip for sure much more events than the rest of my competitors during my career. For sure I missed more events than Roger, than Novak, than Andy. So I feel that’s part of the sport and I accept it.”

Nadal wished his peers good recoveries. That list grew to include Gael Monfils, 30, who withdrew from the tournament due to illness.

“They are so important. We hope to see them back on the tour,” Nadal said.



PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: Simona Halep’s first trip in a private plane was so harrowing that it may be her last.

After the 2015 W&S Open finalist lost to eventual champion Elina Svitolina in the Rogers Cup semifinals last week in Toronto, she said her coach, Darren Cahill, suggested a different type of transport to Mason: A chartered plane.

Halep, ranked second in the WTA rankings, had never taken a private flight.

“I said, ‘OK, let’s take it.’ He arranged everything, all good. We went there like 5 minutes before. Everything was OK,” Halep said during Monday’s WTA round table interview session. “The first time when I saw the plane I was scared to get on. He said, ‘OK, be calm. It’s going to be OK.’”

Actually, it wasn’t. The aircraft was too small, wobbly and closed-in for Halep. She said she turned white and cold as the flight progressed.

“We had to stop in Buffalo because of the customs and I said, ‘That’s enough. I’m not going to go again in that plane.’ So I got a car and I came by car. Six hours driving,” Halep said.

Halep drove two hours and Cahill drove four while her physio and trainer continued by plane. The driving part of the trip, Halep said, was much more enjoyable – for her, anyway.

“I’m sorry for (Cahill), but it was funny,” Halep said.

Halep is vying for a career-first No. 1 ranking. So are Karolina Pliskova, Angelique Kerber, Elina Svitolina and Caroline Wozniacki, setting up a wild week at the tournament.



NEW THREADS: Hundreds of fans crowded around World No. 9 Venus Williams at the Midwest Sports Clothing & Souvenirs tent Monday afternoon for a question-and-answer session.

Williams talked a bit about tennis, encouraging aspiring tennis pros to “believe in yourselves” and extolling the benefits of hard work. She also discussed her new EleVen by Venus Williams clothing company and its new needlepoint line.

Asked how she balances tennis with her other interests, and the creativity required for the latter, she said she takes time between matches to make design decisions. Tennis, though, remains her priority.

“I got up at 8 a.m. to work in my backspin and topspin. I keep pushing,” Williams said.

Williams opens the tournament against fellow American Alison Riske at 1 p.m. Tuesday on Center Court.

They call it Tennis Tuesday, and this Tuesday at the Western & Southern Open it is all about the tennis.

Venus Williams, Juan Martin del Potro, Garbiñe Muguruza, Simona Halep, Jack Sock and more top-notch matches in a day that includes 29 singles and nine doubles matches as first-round play wraps up and second round battles begin.
Here’s the five matches we think you can’t miss on a day of must-see action around the grounds.


Juan Martin del Potro vs. Tomas Berdych
First match, Center Court
When this blockbuster first-round pairing was announced at Friday’s draw party, the room - packed with hundreds of tennis fans - collectively gasped. As has been the case for much of his season, 2009 US Open champ and fan fave del Potro is in for an early-round battle. Both players have been ranked as high as No. 4 in the world, with del Potro, 28, owning a 4-3 head-to-head advantage against the 31-year-old Czech.

Dominika Cibulkova vs. Ana Konjuh
First match, Grandstand
Cibulkova was at that draw party, and when her name was drawn against Konjuh she calmly said it was a match she’d like to exact some revenge in having lost to the youngster earlier this summer at Wimbledon, 6-4 in the third set. Both these women possess powerful baseline games that excel on fast hard courts, Cibulkova having won the WTA Finals last year (and reaching the 2014 Australian Open final) while Konjuh had her breakthrough at the US Open a year ago, making the quarterfinals.

Simona Halep vs. Taylor Townsend
Second match, Grandstand
Twenty-one-year-old Townsend had the American fans thrilled on Court 10 on Monday with a three-set win over Olympic gold medalist Monica Puig, meaning she’s now won three matches that have gone the distance having come through the qualifying draw in the same fashion. It’s these two players’ first-ever meeting, with Halep playing (once again) with a shot at the world No. 1 ranking, though she’s coming off a surprisingly disappointing loss in the Toronto semifinals, where she won just two games against eventual champion Elina Svitolina.

Dominic Thiem vs. Fabio Fognini
Second match - evening session, Grandstand
Have you seen Thiem play tennis yet? If not, we’d highly recommend checking out the Austrian that many see as the next Top 5 player in men’s tennis, and likely a French Open champion having already been to the semifinals there twice. But the dynamic Italian Fognini is always unpredictable, though Thiem did win their only meeting - on clay in Munich two years ago.

John Isner vs. Tommy Paul
First match - evening session, Center Court
If you’re a fan of American men’s tennis then this is the match to see on Tuesday, with longtime leader Isner taking on fast-rising Paul, who at 20 has had a breakthrough summer, making the quarterfinals in both Atlanta and Washington, D.C. The south where both these guys hail from - North Carolina the state they call home - but Tuesday they’ll do battle for the first time ever on tour.

What else to keep an eye on? There’s so much to choose from. Venus Williams takes on American Alison Riske, while American teen CiCi Bellis is trying to win a second straight match against Frenchwoman Alize Cornet. Sloane Stephens beat Lucie Safarova in a third-set tiebreak last week in Canada and they meet again on Tuesday, while Nick Kyrgios and David Goffin do battle, as do David Ferrer and Steve Johnson as well as Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Ivo Karlovic.


See? We told you it’d be quite the busy day. Pull up a chair, tennis fans!

Fans get to learn from the best in the world in Cincinnati

Dozens of fans and a plethora of ATP World Tour doubles players enjoyed the fourth annual ATP Doubles Showdown at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati on Monday afternoon.
Wayne Bryan kicked off the afternoon of fun with a question-and-answer session with players, including Lukasz Kubot, Bruno Soares and Marcelo Melo. Bryan also tested the crowd on their tennis knowledge. He even had Kubot, Soares and Melo dancing at one point. Jamie Murray, Rajeev Ram, Raven Klaasen, Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic also participated.
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The players and fans then hit on Court 4, as the players worked on doubles drills with fans. Other doubles players, including Leander Paes, John Peers, Nikola Mektic, Jackson Withrow, Juan Sebastian Cabal, Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi joined for the latter end of the Doubles Showdown.
The second group spent a full hour on court with fans and Bryan. They ended the session with a battle of football tennis with FC Cincinnati.

In ATP World Tour doubles action, Roberto Bautista Agut and David Ferrer will take on the No. 1 seeds, Henri Kontinen and Peers, for a place in the Cincinnati quarter-finals. The Spaniards narrowly snuck past the Italian-Spanish duo of Paolo Lorenzi and Albert Ramos-Vinolas 1-6, 7-6(2), 10-6.
Roland Garros champions Ryan Harrison and Michael Venus also advanced to the second round. The American and New Zealander posted a 6-2, 6-3 win over Steve Johnson and Daniel Nestor to set a clash with eighth seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic.
French pair Fabrice Martin and Edouard Roger-Vasselin took down Americans John Isner and Donald Young 6-7(4), 6-3, 10-5. The experienced pairing of Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau joined the Frenchmen in the second round with a 6-3, 6-4 result over #NextGenATP wild cards Jared Donaldson and Stefan Kozlov.

Roger Federer didn't have the best start of 2009 season, losing to Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic in the latter stages of 5 tournaments, failing to win the title before May. Then, his luck changed in Madrid, where he beat Rafael Nadal in the final, and he won his first and only "Channel Slam," conquering both Roland Garros and Wimbledon to neutralize all the setbacks from the first part of the season.

Roger came to Montreal with a 19-match winning streak, and he beat Frederic Niemeyer and Stan Wawrinka to reach the quarter-final against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. This was only their second meeting (they will play more often in the years to come) and Jo-Wilfried stunned the world number 1 (returned there after Wimbledon) 7-6 1-6 7-6 in 2 hours and 19 minutes, despite the fact Roger led 5-1 in the decided! After losing the opening set, Federer regained control and stormed over his rival to take the second set easily, and his win seems to be inevitable after building that huge lead in the decider.

He was 2 points away from the win on serve at 5-2 and 5-4 and then he saved 3 match points in game 12 to set up the tie break, only to lose it 7-3 after a double fault! This tournament will stay written down in the history books, as the first since the introducing of the ranking in 1973 with 8 best-ranked players in the quarter-final.

Federer had 10 break points and he won 9 points more than his rival but it wasn't enough for the win. Roger never wasted such a huge advantage in his career before and he wasn't happy with his performance:

"It's obviously disappointing but you know, that's what Jo does—he doesn't make a return for an hour and then he puts in a few and then all of a sudden he's back in the match," Federer said.

"I should never have allowed it but it happened, so it's a pity."