Madison Keys clinched the Eastbourne title for the third time on Saturday, defeating Germany's Tatjana Maria 7-5, 6-4 in 93 minutes under sweltering heat on England's south coast. The victory marks the American's first title since winning her maiden Grand Slam at the Australian Open in 2025.
Keys joins elite company at Eastbourne
The 31-year-old, seeded No. 2, faced only one break point throughout the match against world No. 112 Maria. Keys now joins Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova as three-time champions at the Eastbourne grass-court event. Her first WTA title came at Eastbourne 12 years ago, and she previously won in 2023. This was her 11th career title in her 16th final.
Keys avenged a semi-final loss to Maria on grass at Queen's Club last year. She had not reached a final since finishing as runner-up at the Trophee Clarins in Paris in May.
Perfect Wimbledon preparation
Keys enters Wimbledon with strong momentum. She has never advanced beyond the quarter-finals at the All England Club. She will face compatriot Kayla Day in the first round on Tuesday. "I'm really happy with how I played today," Keys said. "It's great to get this win before Wimbledon."
Osaka's Wimbledon preparations hit by injury
Elsewhere, Naomi Osaka's Wimbledon build-up suffered a setback after she retired from the Bad Homburg Open final due to a foot injury. The fourth-seeded Japanese player was trailing 6-1, 1-0 to Karolina Muchova of Czechia when she withdrew. Osaka had taken a medical timeout in the first set before gesturing she could not continue and shaking hands with Muchova.
The four-time Grand Slam champion is seeded No. 14 at Wimbledon and is scheduled to face Elsa Jacquemot in the first round.
