'A bit more normal out here today': Keys eases past Danilovic at Wimbledon

WIMBLEDON -- Four Top 10 seeds had exited Wimbledon at the first hurdle, and Madison Keys had only just avoided joining the exodus. Two days after pulling through a 2-hour, 41-minute rollercoaster against Elena-Gabriela Ruse, the No. 6 seed was far more efficient in dismissing Olga Danilovic 6-4, 6-2 in 75 minutes.

Wimbledon: Scores | Order of play | Draws

In contrast to the baking conditions of the first two days, second-round action began in a more familiar scenario: clouds, cooler temperatures and a two-hour rain delay owing to persistent drizzle. This suited Keys down to the ground.

"I definitely felt a little more comfortable today," the Australian Open champion said in her on-court interview. "It's the cloudy, rainy England we know and love, so that helps a lot. It felt a little bit more normal out here today."

Keys will next face No. 104-ranked Laura Siegemund, who upset No. 29 seed Leylah Fernandez 6-2, 6-3 to reach the third round of Wimbledon for the first time in her career. The result was the 37-year-old's third Top 30 victory of 2025, and her second at a major following her second-round upset of Zheng Qinwen at the Australian Open. Keys and Siegemund have split two previous meetings, both in 2016, with Keys winning the grass-court encounter 6-3, 6-1 at Wimbledon that year.

Danilovic has been one of the most improved players of the past 12 months, raising her ranking from No. 150 last July to No. 37 this week. But the Serb's surge has mostly been down to her results on clay and hard courts -- her first-round defeat of qualifier Zhang Shuai was her first tour-level win on the surface.

By contrast, Keys is a three-time grass-court titlist and a two-time Wimbledon quarterfinalist (2015 and 2023), and used her wealth of expertise on the surface to pull away after a tight first set. She fired 19 winners to Danilovic's 15, but also used chipped shots adeptly on defense, drawing her opponent into net to set up for winning passes. Meanwhile, Danilovic's tally of 27 unforced errors reflected the 24-year-old being repeatedly caught out by the low bounce of the court.

Keys' seven double faults were the only blot on her formbook -- two particularly wild ones came as she failed to serve the first set out. But she was able to shrug them off each time, and did not drop serve otherwise.

"I definitely knew that I wanted to get the momentum as early as I could, and try to keep it," said Keys. "She's obviously had a phenomenal couple of years and she's had some really big upsets. I knew she could play some really great tennis, so really just wanted to try to get a lead and then just run with it."

After quelling the power of Ruse and Danilovic, Keys' next match against Siegemund's array of spins and finesse will be a very different test.

"She's always a tricky player," Keys said. "I think she's super crafty, so I think grass highlights that for her, and I thinkall of her tangibles become even more of a weapon. You just know that you're never really going to get the same ball twice. So if you go out looking for any sort of rhythm, you're not going to find it. I think just knowing that going into the match is half the battle, then just having a really solid game plan on how to approach each individual ball that comes at you."

Keys has taken two losses to players who rely on craft rather than power in this year's grass swing already -- Tatjana Maria at Queen's and Marketa Vondrousova in Berlin. Received wisdom is that grass is a surface for big hitters, but Keys points out that it can reward more than just power.

"Grass highlights certain talents very differently," she said. "Obviously the big hitters, the ball kind of moves through the court really easily. Then you have the craftier players who are able to take the pace and hit these shots that are basically rolling at your feet. I think both have very different challenges."

There wasn't any doubt over who she'd prefer to see in her draw, though.

"I would probably rather play someone who hits big," Keys said. "Just because that's how I play, so it feels like a little bit more of a rhythmic player that you are playing against -- versus a crafty player you don't really know what you are going to get."

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