Madison Keys' under-the-radar run to the US Open semifinals - ESPN
ESPN NEW YORK -- Madison Keys is happy to be forgotten.
"Honestly, it's been great," Keys said after her 6-1, 6-4 win over this year's Wimbledon champion, Marketa Vondrousova, in the US Open quarterfinals Wednesday. "I love that none of you talk about me anymore. I don't have press requests. It's a lot off my plate. No complaints. Keep not talking about me."
Keys' lighthearted comments came in response to a question asked by a reporter in her postmatch news conference Wednesday but posed by American Jess Pegula after losing to the 28-year-old in straight sets in the fourth round.
"I feel like Madi doesn't get enough credit," Pegula said. "She's a great player, a Slam finalist, a multiple-time semifinalist. I think she's a bigger hitter on tour than [Aryna] Sabalenka or Iga [Swiatek] or even [Elena] Rybakina. I feel like that gets lost. I feel like people kind of forgot about her, but she's still really good. She could for sure win the tournament."
The way she's playing, Keys is making it tough to keep her name out of the press, especially now that she joins fellow American Coco Gauff, who is on a 13-match win streak, in Thursday's semifinals. Six years ago, Keys experienced her most successful run at a Grand Slam when she lost to fellow American Sloane Stephens, one of Keys' closest friends on tour, in a memorable 2017 US Open final. She is now one match away from her second US Open final. And like her last one, it could feature two American women.
