WUHAN, China (AP) U.S. Open finalist Madison Keys was knocked out of the Wuhan Open in a first round upset Monday, losing in straight sets to 79th-ranked qualifier Varvara Lepchenko.
In her first match since her Flushing Meadows loss to fellow American Sloane Stephens, the 22-year-old Keys - ranked 12th and seeded 10th in this tournament - was beaten 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) in 1 hour 49 minutes by the 31-year-old Lepchenko.
The Uzbekistan-born naturalized American bounced out to a 2-0 first set lead after Keys lost her first service game, and made it 4-1 when she broke the 22-year-old again, soon taking the set in 33 minutes.
Lepchenko fought back after an early lost service game in the second set, and while broken again serving for the match at 6-5, she established a 5-1 lead in the tiebreaker which proved insurmountable.
