Madison Keys' U.S. Open run came to an early end once again.
The 14th-seeded American lost 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 to Belgium's Elise Mertens at Louis Armstrong Stadium on Friday night, marking just the sixth time since her 2011 debut that she has failed to get past the third round at the tournament.
“First of all, I want to say we both played great matches,” Mertens said in her on-court interview after the match. “Thanks to Madison, she's great. Thanks to everyone who came out tonight, it was a great atmosphere. I just kept battling. I had a set point in the first set, but that's tennis. I'm very happy to be in New York for another day.”
In her fifth match against Mertens, whom she beat for the first time in their previous meeting last year in Cincinnati, Keys committed an abysmal 69 unforced errors.
Meanwhile, Mertens earned a total of 124 points.
With both players winning a set each, the third set and the championship were in the balance.
Keys had multiple chances to score but was unable to control the final frame.
After leading 3-2, Keys called a medical timeout to call a trainer to treat what appeared to be a blister on her heel.
Her ankle was eventually taped and play resumed.
The 29-year-old led 40-0 in the next game but then lost 10 straight points to fall behind 5-3.
Mertens, who also took a medical timeout in the first set because of a pinched nerve in her left foot before arriving in New York, won six of the next 11 points to win the match.
It was the unforced errors that really hurt Keys, who hadn't dropped a set until Friday night.
Keys was unable to step up in her own service game, despite Mertens serving 10 double faults.
Mertens will next face the winner of the match between Aryna Sabalenka and Ekaterina Alexandrova.
“You'll never see a crowd like this anywhere else,” Mertens said. “This is one of my favorite tournaments. It's a great place. I love New York.”
