Serena, ever the crowd pleaser on these occasions, addresses the stands in Italian. She congratulates Keys and thanks all and sundry for their support. Perhaps her support for the younger American will extend to language lessons in the future. For now, though, she will head for Roland Garros intent on defending her title and equalling Steffi Graf’s open-era record of 22 grand slam titles. As for Keys, a top-10 berth is surely hers for the taking if she can build on her showing here and keep progressing under the watchful eye of Hogstedt. Click here to read Kevin Mitchell’s match report. Thanks for reading and enjoy your afternoon.
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“Serena played too well today,” says Keys, thanking the crowd for their support and congratulating her opponent. Asked if she wants to say something in Italian, Keys runs through a vocabulary that consists of ciao, grazie and gelato. Bit unfair to put the young lady on the spot like that – she’s hardly accustomed to these speeches – but she handles the situation with undeniable charm.
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Well, the outcome was probably about what we expected, but Keys gave a decent account of herself. She started brilliantly and, while she was always going to struggle to maintain the excellent serving that produced six aces in her opening two service games, she made too many unforced errors to keep Williams at bay. Ultimately, though, it was a performance that augurs well for the future, although it remains to be seen whether she can live up to Serena’s prediction that she’ll make it to the very pinnacle of the game. Consistency will be the key, if you’ll pardon the pun.
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Game, set and match Williams, 7-6, 6-3!
Serving to stay in it, Keys quickly finds herself in trouble again. At match point down, she pounds a backhand way beyond the baseline and Serena has her first title of the year. It’s her fourth in Rome, and the world No1 looks to be in fine fettle for the French Open. As for Keys, she receives warm words from Williams as the pair embrace at the net. “I’m so proud of you, and you’re going to be number one for sure,” Serena tells her. Praise indeed.
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Second set: Williams* 7-6, 5-3 Keys
Oh, stop it, Madison. With the crowd ready to acclaim Serena champion, Keys earns another crack at a break of serve with some fine returning. Does she take it? Boy, does she. An absolute howitzer of a backhand leaves Williams flailing, and on we go.
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Second set: Williams 7-6, 5-2 Keys*
She’s up and down at the best of times, Keys, and while the first set showed her at her best, this one has shown her at her erratic worst. Minutes ago it looked like she might claw her way back into this contest but, having fallen 0-40 behind on serve, she snatches at a forehand and the ball flies long. Gifted a double break once again, Serena looks resolute as she strides back to her chair. She’ll serve for the match.
Second set: Williams*7-6, 4-2 Keys
At 30-0, and having clubbed a forehand deep into Keys’ backhand corner, Serena races on to a mid-court ball. The outcome looks inevitable, but she nets the attempted placement and Keys momentarily gets a glimpse of parity. It’s quickly snuffed out, though. A mishit groundstroke from Keys and a thunderous ace down the middle to the deuce court carry Serena to 4-2, and it’s back to the drawing board for the world No24.
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Second set: Williams 7-6, 3-2 Keys*
It’s a crazy game, tennis. Having looked down an out at 0-3, Keys flies through a second love game in succession, serving well, swinging freely and looking confident. She’s now won eight points in succession.
Second set: Williams* 7-6, 3-1 Keys
Well, what a turn up. Just when Serena seemed set fair to run away with this, a combination of some solid returning from Keys and a Serena double-fault at 0-40 enables the younger American to retrieve one of the breaks. Can she back it up with a hold?
Second set: Williams 7-6, 3-0 Keys*
Forza Serena. Williams is motoring away with this. That’s a double break, and it’ll surely take something truly special to rein her in now.
Second set: Williams* 7-6, 2-0 Keys
Williams races to 40-0 with a flurry of booming serves and, although Keys finds another killer forehand to arrest her compatriot’s momentum, the respite is only temporary. These are tough moments for Keys, who hit 12 winners in that opening set – five more than Serena – and played some of her best tennis, yet still came up short.
Second set: Williams 7-6, 1-0 Keys*
“Unusual season for Serena, who does tend to win a lot more tournaments than she has in 2016,” writes Gary Naylor. “Maybe she was a bit unlucky in meeting a pal like Kerber in Melbourne, but I am sure she’ll be back to her best soon.” Judging by the way she ran down a short, angled ball to pass the shellshocked Keys on break point and claim an early break in this second set, she’s getting there fast, Gary. That’s bad news for Keys, who needs to get a foothold quickly here if this final is not to get away from her.
Williams wins the first set 7-6 (7-5)!
An early mini-break carries Serena to 3-1, but Keys nails a short second serve to get back on terms. The bit between her teeth, Keys has her opponent scrambling desperately on the next point, but a rolled backhand lob changes the course of the point and Serena gets her nose in front again. At 5-3, however – and with the longest rally of a match not notable for long exchanges unfolding nicely – Keys unleashes a massive forehand to reclaim the mini-break. An astute change of pace on serve takes us to 5-5, but Serena then changes gears in typically irresistible style. A big forehand is followed by a booming first serve, and Serena is a set to the good.
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First set: Williams 6-6 Keys* (*denotes server)
Serving to stay in the opening set, Keys needs to make a good start to this game. Instead, she sends down another double fault. She atones with a penetrating forehand that the sliding Williams is unable to retrieve, and a couple of missed forehands from the top seed carry her within a point of the tiebreak. Keys works her way to the forecourt behind a barrage of booming forehands and Serena nets her attempt at a passing shot. That’s excellent play from Keys, who is playing with a confidence and controlled freedom that we’ve too rarely seen in the past.
First set: Williams* 6-5 Keys (*denotes server)
The storm clouds are gathering, the sound of thunder is rumbling in the distance, and Williams once again moves within a game of the opening set with a businesslike service game. Ominous times for Keys? We’ll soon see.
First set: Williams 5-5 Keys* (*denotes server)
Belief is everything for Keys, who prefers faster surfaces but will draw enormous confidence from her impressive showing at the Foro Italico. That belief shows no signs of wavering as she serves to stay in the set. She wraps up a quick hold with a second serve that climbs high to the Williams backhand, and we’re all square again. Determined stuff from the younger woman.
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First set: Williams* 5-4 Keys (*denotes server)
The conditions are hardly conducive to free-flowing tennis, but Williams looks increasingly assured. Despite some concerned glances up at her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, Serena works her way to 30-30 before backing up a big second serve with a ferocious forehand drive volley. An ace follows and, for all her initial travails, the world No1 moves within a game of the opening set. The next game will tell us a lot about where Keys is at mentally after relinquishing the early initiative.
First set: Williams 4-4 Keys* (*denotes server)
Keys’ recent upturn owes much to the influence of her new coach, Thomas Hogstedt, whom she credits with helping her to address the lapses of concentration that have sometimes undermined her game in the past. Hogstedt, who coached Maria Sharapova to the first of her two French Open titles and has also worked with Li Na, will certainly be pleased with this game, which Keys starts in tentative fashion but ends with panache. Serve held to 30, ship steadied. Over to you, Serena.
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First set: Williams* 4-3 Keys (*denotes server)
Oh dear. After a flawless start, the errors are flowing from Keys. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Williams seizes the initiative, moving ahead for the first time in the match courtesy of some typically robust serving.
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First set: Williams 3-3 Keys* (*denotes server)
Keys has a penchant for decisive shot-making. One minute she’ll be working the ball from the baseline, the next she’ll decide she’s had enough and take a massive cut at the ball. Sometimes they go in, sometimes they fly out. Up to now, they’ve been going in. But serving at 15-40, she shanks a second serve off the frame, the ball landing in the ad court. Another double follows, and the first signs of doubt creep in. When an overrule at deuce carries Serena to break point, Keys is in trouble on serve for the first time. A horribly mishit forehand follows, and suddenly we’re all square. So far, so Madison.
First set: Williams* 2-3 Keys (*denotes server)
Williams races to 40-0, but Keys treats a 104mph second serve with contempt, swatting away another forehand for a winner. Serena, perhaps unnerved, nets a forehand in tame fashion on the next point, but at 40-30 the younger woman narrowly misses the line with a fizzing two-hander.
First set: Williams 1-3 Keys* (*denotes server)
Two service games played, six aces struck, and Keys is off to an absolutely barnstorming start. She’s backing up that fearsome delivery with some equally bruising forehands, and Serena looks just a little stunned.
Williams holds for 2-1 beneath the grey Roman skies – the weather in the Italian capital has been atrocious all week, but thankfully the rain has stayed off for now – but that’s a great start for Keys. She has been slow out of the blocks at times this week, not least in her quarter-final win over Barbora Strycova.
We join the proceedings with Keys a break to the good in the opening set and Williams serving at 40-15. Apologies!
Good afternoon and welcome
If you like your tennis done rare, you’re in the right place: today’s showdown between Serena Williams and her 24th-ranked compatriot Madison Keys is about as unusual as they come. The last major clay court final before the French Open brings together not two attritional baseliners, but rather a pair of the heaviest-hitting, biggest-serving players in women’s tennis. It also pits two Americans against one another on the last day at the Foro Italico for the first time in almost half a century. You have to go all the way back to 1970 – when Billie Jean King waltzed past Julie Heldman in straight sets – for the last all-US final. Indeed, it’s been four years since two American women last contested a a WTA Tour final of any kind (Serena beating another big server, Coco Vandeweghe, in the 2012 Stanford final, since you ask). So saddle up for a little slice of tennis history.
Serena will be up for this. Unthinkably, given that she came within two wins of a grand slam last year, the world No1 has yet to win a tournament in 2016. Deposed as Australian Open champion by Angelique Kerber at the start of the year, she was subsequently beaten by her close friend Victoria Azarenka in the Indian Wells final before losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the last 16 in Miami. She’s since had to contend with a bout of flu, which forced her late withdrawal from the Madrid Open, and an ill-advised culinary encounter with dog food. So she’ll be eager to lay down a marker for her pursuit of a fourth title at Roland Garros, which starts in a week’s time.
As for Keys, the third final of her career is also the most prestigious. The American won Eastbourne in 2014, and also reached the final on the green clay of Charleston last year, losing in three tight sets to Kerber. But victory in the venerable environs of the Foro Italico would mark a significant step for the unseeded 21-year-old, who finally looks to be back on an even keel after the disappointing run of results that followed her march to the last four of the Australian Open in 2015. If Keys is to make that stride, though, she’ll have to win against Williams – who beat her in straight sets in their only two previous encounters, in Melbourne and New York last year – for the first time.
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