Madison Keys has continued her strong run through the Australian Open draw, returning to the quarterfinals for the first time in three years with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Caroline Garcia on Monday.
The U.S. Open finalist is yet to drop a set at Melbourne Park and is averaging a brisk 62.5 minutes on court through her first four rounds.
Coming into the match against Garcia, she had only dropped 14 games — the second-fewest among the women through three rounds, just behind Angelique Kerber's 13 games.
Keys could meet Kerber in the quarterfinals if the 21st-seeded German beats Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan.
Keys is seeded just 17th after undergoing wrist surgery and missing several months on tour last year, but she is playing pain-free again and looking increasingly confident as the tournament goes on.
Keys, the only American woman to reach the fourth round, said she feels like she's playing without pressure since returning from her wrist injury.
"I definitely realize how much l love it and how much pressure I put on myself" in the past, she said. "Just being really happy to be back out here and not at home in a cast."
Carolina Garcia congratulates Keys after the match.
She's reached her fourth Grand Slam quarterfinal and her first at the Australian Open since her breakout run to the semifinals in 2015 as a 19-year-old.
Keys lost her serve in the opening game of the match against the eighth-seeded Garcia, but broke the Frenchwoman five times as she raced through the next two sets. She had 32 winners to just nine for Garcia.
Angelique Kerber remains the only Grand Slam singles winner in the Australian Open women's draw after surviving a frustrating fourth-round match. For a while, though, it appeared the former No. 1-ranked Kerber's progress may have unraveled against No. 88-ranked Hsieh Su-wei, a former No. 1-ranked doubles player with a double-handed grip on both sides.
With a mix of slice and chips, lobs and bunts, whippy half-volleys and wristy crosscourt ground strokes off both wings, Hsieh pushed Kerber to the extremes and unsettled her rhythm. The 2016 champion finally got a succession of breaks to take the second set and dominate the third in a 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 victory on Monday afternoon.
Angelique Kerber celebrates after winning.
"Credit to her. She played an unbelievable match," said Kerber, who won the Australian and U.S. Open titles and reached No. 1 in 2016. "I was feeling I was running everywhere. She was playing a lot of corners and drop shots. I was bringing a lot of balls back."
After holding it together to improve her winning streak to 13 matches, Kerber faces U.S. Open quarterfinalist Madison Keys in the quarterfinals.
In the men's draw, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic also play for spots in the quarterfinals on Monday. The second-seeded Federer faces Marton Fucsovics of Hungary, while the six-time champion Djokovic meets Hyeon Chung of South Korea.
