Madison Keys overpowered Caroline Wozniacki 7-6(5) 6-3 to win the Charleston Open and defeat the former world number one for the first time on Sunday.
The win, her first on clay court, broke a nearly two-year drought for the eighth-seeded American, who claimed her fourth career title.
Her previous two losses to Denmark’s Wozniacki had been on hard courts when Keys failed to win a set.
“I think I served really well today, said Keys, who had predicted on Saturday that playing on clay would be beneficial in her bid to defeat Wozniacki.
“I also felt I kept a lot of pressure on her, making a lot of returns and keeping rallies going and not going for things too early,” said the world number 18, who won 76 percent of points on her first serve, and fired six aces. “More than anything I really trusted my game and went for my shots.”
That was most evident late in the first set and the tiebreak
