Great escapes! Keys, Starodubtseva fend off multiple match points at US Open
NEW YORK -- In the match of the US Open so far, 22nd seed Madison Keys came from 5-2 down in the third set and saved five match points in a thrilling 5-7, 6-4, 7-6[5] win over Anna Bondar.
Playing in front of a raucous crowd on Court 17, the former Australian Open champion caught a couple of lucky breaks when Bondar, currently No. 73 in the PIF WTA Rankings, hit two double faults on her first two match points.
After Keys broke to cut it to 5-3, she fell behind 15-40 on her serve. A pair of forehand winners on the line brought it to deuce, and she later saved a fifth match point with another forehand winner before taking the game.
Keys took the next two games for the 6-5 lead before Bondar held to force the deciding 10-point tiebreak.
With some of the momentum back, Bondar jumped out to a 5-3 lead. And that's when Keys' forehand saved her again. She hit four consecutive forehand winners to take a 7-5 lead, then won the last three points to secure the win and book a spot in the third round.
After the last match point, a forehand bullet that Bondar, standing at net, couldn't handle, Keys let loose a thunderous reaction.
This was the first time Keys won after saving a match point at the US Open, and the first time she's done so in a WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz match since coming from behind to beat Eva Lys 1-6, 6-3, 7-6(1) in Cincinnati last year. Keys now owns wins from match point down at three of the four Grand Slams, having also saved one to defeat Iga Swiatek 5-7, 6-1, 7-6[8] in the 2025 Australian Open semifinals and three to defeat Sofia Kenin 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the 2025 Roland Garros third round.
Starodubtseva also comes back from the brink
Later on Thursday, Ukraine's Yuliia Starodubtseva also pulled off a Houdini act to upset No. 32 seed Maria Sakkari 1-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 in 2 hours and 42 minutes. Sakkari held three match points as she served for the match at 5-4 in the second set, but committed unforced errors on each of them.
After rolling through most of the third set, Starodubtseva began to suffer from cramps when it was her turn to serve for the match at 5-2. But despite physically ailing, the World No. 58 was able to think clearly: she won a key point with an underarm serve, and on match point rushed the net as soon as possible, drawing another error from Sakkari.
It was a role reversal for Sakkari from her first round, in which she had come from a set and 4-0 down to defeat qualifier Robin Montgomery 2-6, 7-5, 6-2.
Starodubtseva advances to the third round of a Grand Slam for the third time, and at the US Open for the first time. She'll get a chance to repeat one of the upsets of 2026 next -- having stunned Elena Rybakina 3-6, 6-1, 7-6[4] in the second round of Roland Garros, she'll face the No. 2 seed for a second time on Saturday.
