The 21st century
United States · born Rock Island, Illinois, 1995 · right-handed · three times Eastbourne champion
All playersBack to the rankings
4
Grass titles, 2014 to 2026
3-0
Record in Eastbourne finals
2
Wimbledon quarter-finals, 2015 and 2023
126 mph
Serve in the 2014 Eastbourne final, unofficial
15-13
Tie-break that won the 2023 Eastbourne final
Born in Rock Island, Illinois, on 17 February 1995, Keys turned professional on her 14th birthday and months later became the youngest winner of a WTA match since Martina Hingis. She reached the Australian Open semi-finals as a teenager in 2015, entered the top 10 in 2016 and lost the 2017 US Open final to Sloane Stephens. After years of wrist and other injuries she won the 2025 Australian Open, beating Iga Świątek and Aryna Sabalenka in the last two rounds, and has reached a career-high of No. 5. Away from the court she runs Kindness Wins, a non-profit against bullying. In 2026 she won a third Eastbourne title and reached the Wimbledon fourth round, where the eventual champion Linda Nosková beat her.
| Wimbledon singles | Quarter-final 2015 and 2023, the second lost to Aryna Sabalenka; fourth round 2016, 2021, 2024 and 2026; third round 2025, lost to Laura Siegemund |
|---|---|
| Grass titles | Eastbourne 2014, beating Angelique Kerber in the final; Birmingham 2016; Eastbourne 2023, beating Daria Kasatkina 6-2, 7-6 (13); Eastbourne 2026, beating Tatjana Maria 7-5, 6-4 without dropping a set all week |
| Wimbledon 2026 | As 26th seed beat Kayla Day, Katie Swan and the sixth seed Amanda Anisimova 3-6, 6-2, 6-3; lost to Linda Nosková 4-6, 6-7 (2) |
| Wimbledon defeats to remember | 2016: lost to Simona Halep in the fourth round after winning the first set. 2024: retired at 5-5 in the third set against Jasmine Paolini, the eventual finalist |
| Other grass events | Berlin quarter-final 2026, beating KarolÃna Muchová 6-4, 7-5, then losing to Jessica Pegula in two tie-breaks |
| Eastbourne | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Women's singles | |
| 2023 | Women's singles | |
| 2026 | Women's singles | |
| Birmingham | ||
| 2016 | Women's singles | |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. †single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
"It's been such a special place for me to play here in Eastbourne."
The person behind the player.
Rock Island, 1999
At four she watched Wimbledon on television and asked her parents for a white tennis dress like the one Venus Williams was wearing. They agreed on condition that she took up the game. Her father, a former college basketball player, later said that at first all she did was try to hit balls into the next yard.
Source: WikipediaEastbourne 2014
She beat the world No. 7 Jelena Janković in the first round and No. 9 Angelique Kerber in the final for her first WTA title. During the final she hit a 126 mph serve, which would have been among the fastest recorded in the women's game had the tournament been measuring. She was the first teenage titlist since Caroline Wozniacki in 2009.
Source: WikipediaBirmingham 2016
The Birmingham title lifted her into the top 10 for the first time, at 21. She was the first American woman to make her top-10 debut since Serena Williams in 1999. At Wimbledon a few weeks later, seeded ninth, she won the first set against Simona Halep in the fourth round and lost the match.
Source: WikipediaEastbourne 2023 · Final
She led Daria Kasatkina by a set and 5-2 in the second-set tie-break and missed three match points. Kasatkina then had four set points before Keys took it 15-13, the second-longest tie-break of the WTA season. "I love coming and playing in Eastbourne," she said, after a year she called pretty tough.
Source: Sky SportsWimbledon 2024 · Fourth round
Against Jasmine Paolini she was level at 5-5 in the third set when an injury forced her to retire. Paolini went on to reach the final, and Keys missed the Olympics that summer. Six months later she won her first major title at the Australian Open, beating Iga ÅšwiÄ…tek from match point down in the semi-final.
Source: WikipediaEastbourne 2026 · Final
Against Tatjana Maria, who had won all four of her previous tour finals, she missed three set points at 5-4, then took the first set on her fifth and won 7-5, 6-4 without dropping a set all week. She became the first player to win her first three Eastbourne finals. A third title, she said, meant "the absolute world".
Source: WTAFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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