Madison Keys booked her place in the fourth round of the Canadian Open after defeating US compatriot Caty McNally.
Keys came back from a set down to beat McNally 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 to advance in Montreal, and set up a clash with Karolina Muchova.
The Australian Open champion is back to winning ways on the WTA Tour after a largely disappointing grass swing, which ended in a third-round exit at Wimbledon.
After her victory over McNally, Keys reflected on the result and gave her thoughts on the performance of her fellow American.
Photo by David Kirouac/Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesMadison Keys gives her thoughts on Caty McNally’s performance
Speaking after the match, the world number eight said: “I don’t think I would say that she did anything that surprised me.
“I think she’s a really good tennis player. I think she’s a very good all-court player as well.
“So I was expecting her to come in and slice and try to change up the pace. I just think that she played really well, and it’s good to see that she’s finding her level again after being injured.
“She’s also won a ton of matches the last couple of weeks, and I feel like no matter what level you’re doing that at, you’re just building your own confidence. I think that really helps in matches like this.
‘I think I just had to kind of raise my level. Was going for a little bit too much too soon in the first set. But yeah, I was impressed with her, and I felt like I had to raise my level in order to get the win.”
Madison Keys says that she has ‘struggled’ this season
Keys added: “I’ve definitely played a lot of tennis. It’s probably the most tennis I’ve ever played in my career, and I think the biggest thing is that I’m just really happy that my body is holding up the way that it has been.
“Obviously, injuries have always been something that kind of hampered me season to season.
“So that was a really big goal of mine is to just try to bulletproof my body as much as possible so I could play these long matches and be able to bounce back the next day. So super happy about that.
“I think that the competitive side of things, it’s always tough because I think I’ve always tried to be a good competitor, but I think sometimes knowing when to go for things and when to kind of pull back was always where I struggled a little bit.
“I felt like a lot of times I would maybe get a little bit too tentative in really important points and play a little bit too safe, but I definitely have a lot more confidence now, especially switching racquets, that I just have a little bit more control, and I can do the things that I want to do a little bit easier.
She has played her next opponent, Muchova, just once before, beating her in Beijing in 2019.