8-4-21–ZHANG SHUAI OF CHINA REACTS TO A POINT SHE WON IN HER STRAIGHT SETS VICTORY 7-5 7-6 OVER AMERICAN MADISON KEYS ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT AT THE MUBADALA SILICON VALLEY CLASSIC AT THE SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY TENNIS COMPLEX. Courtesy of Sports Radio Service.

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE–It’s not every day a match ends on a challenge call.

That’s how Zhang Shuai was able to claim a straight sets victory 7-5 7-6 (7-5) over third seeded Madison Keys in the featured evening match on Day 3 at the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic at the San Jose State University Tennis Complex.

With the second set tied at 6-6 and in a tiebreaker, Zhang was up 6-4 when Keys returned a shot down the left sideline that was called in. Zhang challenged and the replay showed the shot was indeed out and the call was overturned giving Zhang the tough fought victory.

Zhang’s return game was her key weapon against Keys, whose powerful serve (the highest was clocked at 112 mph) kept her in the match.

Zhang’s challenges also affected the outcome of the first set. Keys won two games in a row to tie it up at 5-5 and seize the momentum. However back-to-back errant calls by the same linesmen resulted in overturn calls that Zhang challenged and won. Her challenges allowed her to regain the momentum and finish off the first set.

“I think I was really really lucky,” said Zhang, who had won five of her six challenges during the match. “I felt those calls were in and maybe if I don’t challenge, then I lose the set 7-5 or 7-6.”

Keys was plagued by numerous unforced errors in the second set. The native of Rock Island, Illinois, who opened up the second set winning four of the first five games, thought she didn’t not play her best tennis on this evening.

“To lose kind of on a really close call sucks,” said Keyes after the match. “But like I said, I gave it everything (I had) and kept fighting till the end. That’s all you really can do when your tennis (game) isn’t a 100 percent there.”

Zhang is now 5-2 in her career against Keys.

Ana Konjuh continued her climb up through the tournament. She entered the tournament as a wild card and now has played her well in the quarterfinals on Friday after her straight sets 6-1 6-4 victory over ninth seeded American Alison Riske.

“I really love it here (in San Jose),” said Konjuh. “I have family here, my cousins (who live here), so it’s not really all about tennis. I get to have dinners with them, (I’m able) to get my mind off of things. So it’s really nice to be back here.”

The 23-year native of Dubrovnik, Croatia, used a powerful serve and a strong backhand to control of the first set as she only lost one game. The second set featured more a battle as Riske didn’t go down quietly as she held serve at 5-4.

In the end, Konjuh was too much to handle for Riske who played well at this year’s tournament.

“I think the key was to play on her forehand, her high balls today. So I had to include my forehand as well. She made some mistakes in the first set but overall I played the match pretty well,” Konjuh said.

In other singles action, Poland’s Magda Linette defeated sixth seeded Petra Martic of Croatia in straight sets 7-5 7-6 (7-5) in an entertaining opening match the started the day off.

Fourth seeded Daria Kasatkina of Russia defeated France’s Caroline Garcia in three sets 3-6 7-5 6-3. Kasatkina and Linette advanced to the quarterfinals on Friday.

Youth ruled in doubles action on Day 3. The American duo of Ashlyn Krueger and Robin Montgomery made history in their straight sets victory 6-3 6-2 over the Netherlands team of Pattinama Kerkhove and Rosalie Van Der Hoek. The teenage sensations became the youngest duo to ever play at the tournament. Their combined age of 34 years, 192 days (Krueger is 17 years old and Robinson is 16 years old) set the new mark that used to belong to the American duo of Mary Joe Fernandez and Marianne Werdel-Witmeyer that had a combined age of 34 years, 301 days. They are the youngest to compete at a tour event since 2020.

In other doubles action, the American Duo of Cathy McNally and Coco Vandeweghe defeated the team of Erin Routliffe of New Zealand and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia in three sets 6-4 1-6 10-5.

Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Luisa Stefani of Brazil defeated American Kaitlyn Christian and Australian Arina Rodionova in three sets 7-5 3-6 12-10. Ellen Perez of Australia and Czech Republic’s Kveta Peschke defeated the team of Elixane Lechemia of France and American Ingrid Neel in straight sets 6-3 6-2.