A professional tennis player from the Quad Cities is once again in the running for a Grand Slam championship.
Madison Keys is scheduled to play Wednesday evening in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open in New York City.
Keys was born in Rock Island, and first picked up the sport at the Quad City Tennis Club in Moline at the age of seven. Just three years later, she moved to Florida to train under Grand Slam champion Chris Evert.
Now, at 23 years old, Keys is close to winning her own Grand Slam: she will have to win three more matches in order to claim her first major title.
At last year's U.S. Open, Keys made it all the way to the final match, where she lost to fellow American Sloane Stephens. Keys also came close to winning the French Open in Paris earlier this summer, advancing to the semifinals.
Even as her tennis career has taken her around the world for tournaments and training, Keys has maintained her connection to the Quad Cities. In recent years, she has visited Rock Island High School and Augustana College to lead empowerment workshops for teenage girls. In 2013, Keys chose Hodge Park in Rock Island to be the recipient of a new tennis court provided by one of her sponsors.
Keys—who is ranked #14 in the tournament—is scheduled to play her quarterfinal match Wednesday around 6 p.m. She will face #30-ranked Carla Suárez Navarro, from Spain.
