Madrid Open: Keys fights back to knock out Jabeur and reach semi-finals

Madison Keys staged a remarkable comeback to advance to the last four of the Madrid Open, beating Ons Jabeur, the No 8 seed, 0-6, 7-5, 6-1 at the Caja Magica.

Keys lost the first eight games of the match to trail by a set and a break. From 6-0, 2-0 down, however, the entire match unexpectedly turned.

Keys broke back to get a foothold back in the contest, before breaking again in the twelfth and final game of the second set to draw level from completely out of the blue.

The American then cruised through the final set to complete an unlikely comeback and stun eighth-seeded Jabeur when the match had been entirely in the Tunisian’s control.

Jabeur lost 13 of the las 17 games as her match plan unravelled in the face of the big-hitting former US Open finalist.

Keys, ranked No 20, will face Pole Iga Swiatek, the top seed, next.

Earlier in the tournament, the American beat Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu (7-6 (3), 7-6 (6)), Russian Liudmila Samsonova, the No 15 seed (6-2, 6-3) and No 3 seed Coco Gauff (7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-4).

Jabeur, ranked No 9, won against Slovak Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (6-4, 5-7, 6-3), Canadian Leylah Fernandez, the No 32 seed (7-5, 2-6, 6-4) and Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, the No 9 seed (6-0, 6-4) in the previous rounds of the Madrid tournament.

Madrid WTA 1000, other quarter-finals results (Caja Magica, clay, USD 8.770.480, most recent results first):

• Mirra Andreeva vs. Aryna Sabalenka
• Yulia Putintseva vs. Elena Rybakina
• Iga Swiatek beat Beatriz Haddad Maia (11): 4-6, 6-0, 6-2