Madison Keys might be on the cusp of dropping out of the WTA Tour top 20, but she is undoubtedly one of the favourites to win the Charleston Open.
Keys dropped several ranking places after the Australian Open after failing to defend her 2025 victory in Melbourne.
The world number 18 is the fourth seed at the Charleston event, following Ekaterina Alexandrova’s withdrawal from the tournament, and she opened her campaign with a victory against Donna Vekic.
The American’s latest victory has seen her make history in Charleston as she equals a record by Serena Williams and Jelena Jankovic.
Madison Keys earns record Charleston Open victory
Keys is a former winner of the Charleston Open, having lifted the title in 2019, and she now holds a joint record at the WTA 500 event.
Her straight sets victory against Vekic ensured her 22nd win at the Charleston Open, a number no other player can beat.
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She joins Williams, Jankovic, and Vera Zvonareva with the same number of victories, which she can now beat in her second round match.
Williams won the event three times and Jankovic won the title once, while Zvonareva reached two finals but failed to ever lift the trophy.
Keys plays Anna Bondár in her next match with the winner playing either Sára Bejlek or Belinda Bencic in the quarter-finals.
Madison Keys’ surprising clay court record
Keys’ name does not often come up when speaking about the best clay court players on the WTA Tour, but she’s built an impressive record on the surface.
The star has won two events on clay, in Charleston and Strasbourg, and she holds a better win percentage on the surface than she does on hardcourts.
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The American’s 88–49 win-loss record equates to a 64% win rate on clay, which is more than the 61% she’s managed on hardcourts.
Granted, Keys has played over 200 more matches on hardcourts, but it’s an impressive record of the American nonetheless.
One of Keys’ three WTA 1000 finals came on clay too, as she lost to Williams in the final of the Italian Open in 2016.
