DANIEL ISLAND, S.C. — After Madison Keys’s breakout performance at the Australian Open, her disappointing losses on hard courts in March seemed to indicate she needed the rest of the spring for recovery and recharging.
But as the tour shifted to clay, Keys surprisingly took flight.
At the Family Circle Cup, near Charleston, she dropped two or fewer games in each of her first seven sets and made the final Sunday, which she lost, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, to Angelique Kerber. Keys held a 4-1 lead in the final set, as well as a 40-0 lead on serve at 5-5 in the final set, but Kerber won 10 of the last 11 points.