In the last match of the 2015 Family Circle Cup, Angelique Kerber came from 1-4 down in the final set to seal a magnificent win over Madison Keys, 6-2 4-6 7-5 in two hours and 16 minutes. It was another great final between Kerber and Keys, and this match-up once again lived up to expectation. It didn’t start in the most positive manner as challenging conditions led to a scrappy start from both. Keys opened with seven straight unforced errors, while Kerber was solid but passive. Overall, Kerber played a very smart match. She tried to keep the ball away from Keys’s forehand and her serve out wide on the AD side into Madison’s backhand continually caused the American problems. There was one stunning game in the first set with Kerber serving at *3-2 that proved to be the turning point. Keys unleashed some sensational winners off both wings but Kerber valiantly held on and effectively sealed the set by winning that lengthy game.
Madison began the second set in emphatic style with a love hold, but she still couldn’t get involved in Kerber’s service games. Kerber maintained a very high percentage of first service points in throughout the entire match (83% first set, 88% second set and 79% third set). The most impressive aspect of Keys’s game in the second set was her ability to dig in. Kerber had a break point at 6-2 4-4 that would have seen her serve for the match. Keys produced a really gutsy hold and then broke in the next game to force a decider.
TennisTV decided to die at the start of the third set, which was just delightful… thankfully it came back soon. Keys saved a couple of break points at 2-1 and then took advantage of a lapse service game from Kerber to go up 4-1. Twitter had already decided that Keys had won at this point. Kerber wasn’t done yet though as, spurred on by a coaching changeover with Torben Beltz, she played a couple of excellent games. She went for more, she mixed it up and ultimately, I felt the turnaround was more Angie rather than Madison. There was an extremely tense game at 4-4, which Madison won with two excellent points where she managed to get the rally on her terms. I had an inevitable sinking feeling for Angie butttttt she held to love! I do love the unpredictability of WTA tennis…
The game at 5-5 featured some RIDICULOUS rallies including one with both players up at the net. Madison had 40-0 on her serve, but a mixture of errors and Kerber peaking saw the German player break. This match had third set tiebreak written all over it, but Kerber served out the match TO LOVE. There were so many talking points from this match and I keep suddenly remembering things that happened.
I’m delighted for Kerber and it’s always lovely to see when a player manages to turn it around after a rough spell. In nearly all of her matches this week, she fought back from deficits; Keys was really in control at 4-1 and appeared to be on her way to the title, but she didn’t back down one bit. Furthermore, Kerber snapped a four match losing streak in finals. A few posts ago, I said that I still wasn’t entirely convinced by Kerber. I think after this match, we can safely say that she has snapped out of her slump and set herself up nicely for the red clay. This was a really entertaining final and i’d put it up there in my top five WTA matches for 2015 so far. Charleston has been fun… 🙂
Moo's Tennis Blog 
Well done to Kerber. She was on a very slippery slope.
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Hopefully Kerber can keep the form. 🙂
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Angie got the win and the title! Happy for her!
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Key plays at one speed and one speed only. She can be great, but she needs to learn to mix it up more. She can probably beat 90% of the field playing that way, but the other 10% are going to give her trouble. Still, Kerber played a great match, much credit to her.
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What a final…reminded me glimpses of Halep vs Jelena final sometime back where the odds came from nowhere to haunt.At 4-1 it was just in the grasp of Keys but what to say her inexperience of big finals or nerves.Whatever it is ladies singles again proved that nothing is taken for granted until the last winner point is played!!!!!
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Key has the potential to be great but I am afraid to mention that she cannot be world no 1 in the nearest future. Her game is only based on power with no other varieties. Her game is marred by errors and carelessness. I must say I don’t enjoy watching her game most times. She is not smart and brilliant with the ball. She easily loses focus and is too over confidence. The only thing she does on court is to hit the ball hard. The modern tennis requires varieties and not just hard hitting. Her game is similar to Kvitova and this explains why Kvitova has not been world no 1. Even though Kvitova is a better player.
Keys needs to be brilliant with her game. Otherwise, she can never be a future Serena.
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I don’t think Kvitova is all about power. I think Petra’s game is all about timing. Even though she gets called one of the tours big hitters, her serves and shots are nowhere near as fast or heavy as Madison, Venus or Sabine. Even Ana Ivanovic serves faster when she can get her ball toss working.
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You are right about Kvitova. I compared Key’s game with that of Kvitova’s because they both commit too much unforced errors. I used to like Madison’s game but just lost interest after her match against Jankovic (Indian Wells) and Kerber. There is no doubt about her potential and ability. She just needs to be more focus and smart with her game.
Tennis is not only about hard hitting and/or big serve. Serena is still the no 1 because of her all-around game. Serena is not winnig games with her serve alone. No one can win games with only fast and heavy serve alone. This explains why Serena still wins games even when she’s not serving well.
Keys needs to learn to be a complete player not just a hard hitter.
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Well thats why Davenport has been brought on board. It’s a little soon to write her off, especially given that she’s had two big results this year already.
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Key has the potential to be great but I am afraid to mention that she cannot be world no 1 in the nearest future. Her game is only based on power with no other varieties. Her game is marred by errors and carelessness. I must say I don’t enjoy watching her game most times. She is not smart and brilliant with the ball. She easily loses focus and is too over confidence. The only thing she does on court is to hit the ball hard. The modern tennis requires varieties and not just hard hitting. Her game is similar to Kvitova and this explains why Kvitova has not been world no 1. Even though Kvitova is a better player.
Keys needs to be brilliant with her game. Otherwise, she can never be a future Serena.
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Quite late but: I’m so happy 🙂 Who would have thought that after Kerber’s recent results. She was full of confidence and even after trailing 1:4 in the third set I had the feeling she would at least fight.
As regards Keys: Of course, she is inconsistent and of course she needs to develop a Plan B when her (very beautiful!!!) Plan A is not working but Serena Williams was young, too. You need to see that a massive amount of Grand Slams, other titles and weeks as a number one came only in her late career (from 2013 onwards). She is now a complete player and has a great all-around game but the real change came IMO with Patrick Moratoglou. That’s why I think Madison Keys has so much more left to write her off reall quickly. Young players need some time and in comparison to Eugenie Bouchard I see a lot room to improvement. I’m very much convinced that she is a multiple grand slam winner in the future. Among the talents (including Bouchard, Muguruza, Pliskova, Bencic, Svitolina etc), I think Pliskova and Keys are the ones that will grab a Slam sooner or later, and not only one 😉 Also, I see Bencic winning maybe one at some point. However, I’ve changed my mind a little bit. I thought she is the “real deal”, but in fact, her game lacks a certain power. I mean not that everyone needs to be a big hitter but she needs to find a solution against those, otherwise one of them will always stand in her way to win a slam title.
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Patrick made Serena more patient in points, thats all. And she was still considered one of the GOAT before he came along. She’d already been number one several (lengthy) times and won a dozen Slams (plus the doubles Slams).
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I agree with Andrew. Patrick didn’t make Serena (she won a grand slam at age 17 and became world no 1 in 2012 when none or little was known about Patrick ). Serena made Patrick a better coach. After all, Patrick coached other tennis players before working with Serena. And none of these players has won a grand slam. Mr. Williams is the greatest and best Serena’s coach of all time. Last year, Serena said her dad is the best coach in the world.
There are different categories of players, some are slow starter, some are late bloomers, some are consistent players while others are inconsistent.
For example, in winning grand slams, Navratilova was a late bloomer and Evert was so consistent. Serena started off slow, made a run and emerged as the most dominant player in history.
Madison Keys could be regarded as a slow starter and inconsistent player at least for now. But I believe there is still a room for improvement. She’s definitely a good candidate for grand slams sooner than later.
Thanks mootennis for all the beautiful blog posts. I do enjoy reading them.
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