American Madison Keys blazed into the French Open quarter-finals for the first time in her career with a 6-1 6-4 defeat of Romanian Mihaela Buzarnescu on Sunday.
The 13th seed admitted in the build-up that she had never watched Buzarnescu in action but quickly got to grips with the unheralded 30-year-old who was playing in the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time.
Striking the ball cleanly and powerfully in perfect conditions on Court Philippe Chatrier, the big-serving Keys bagged the opener in the blink of an eye against an overpowered opponent offering little resistance.
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It was pretty much the same story in the second set before Buzarnescu’s late resurgence which caused some anxiety in the Keys camp.
The Romanian clawed back from 1-5 to 4-5 but Keys shut down the mini revival to serve for victory.
The 23-year-old Keys will now be eyeing a semi-final spot, with Czech 26th seed Barbora Strycova or unseeded Kazakh Yulia Putintseva waiting in the quarter-finals.
