BEIJING, China – Madison Keys moved one step closer to qualifying for her first BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, edging a streaking Petra Kvitova, 6-3, 6-7(2), 7-6(5), to advance to her first Premier Mandatory semifinal at the China Open. Keys will play Johanna Konta on Saturday for a place in the final.

1. Keys’ improved resilience wins the day…again.

No single stat explains Madison Keys’ rise through the ranks in 2016 than her three-set record. In 2014 she was 6-10. In 2015 she was 7-8. In 2016? She’s now 17-5.

“You look at my scores, there’s lulls and stuff but I feel like before it would spiral really quickly,” Keys told WTA Insider earlier this week in Beijing. “Now I’m stopping it and getting better at that.

“I think it’s that confidence of knowing ‘Don’t panic, you can do this.’ I think the biggest thing is knowing that those thoughts of panic are probably going to go into your brain and just accepting it. So that’s been the biggest thing. Not fighting it and trying to think I’m going to have the perfect mentality the entire time. That’s not going to happen. So just knowing it and accepting it has been a huge thing for me.”

To succeed as a power player you have to be able to execute under pressure. Players who can grind out points have the luxury of being able to play for the next shot, prolonging rallies and using their defense to get themselves out of trouble. Players like Kvitova and Keys do not have that luxury. When the opening is there they have to execute. That becomes more and more difficult when the pressure is on.

Keys had multiple opportunities to let this match slip away. She served for the straight set win at 5-4 in the second set only to get broken and lose the tiebreaker. After building a quick 3-0 lead in the final set she let Kvitova back into the set at 3-3 and then had to fend off seven break points to get the match into a final set tie-break.

Then, on the biggest pressure point of the match at 5-5 in the tie-break, Kvitova maintained her discipline and kept the ball on Keys’ less dangerous backhand side before the American finally had enough.

“That was just like, we’re going to go for it and see what happens. Hope for the best,” Keys told reporters afterwards with a laugh. Indeed, Keys gripped and ripped a backhand down-the-line winner to earn match point. She only needed one.

“It was about one or two points in the end,” Kvitova told WTA Insider. “I had break points in the third and I don’t know, I didn’t really think I did anything really wrong. She served well and really went for it at 5-5 in the tiebreaker and put the backhand down the line. It was a great move from her.”

2. Kvitova’s resurgence in China could continue in Zhuhai.

Kvitova was understandably dejected after the loss, having come so close to extending her win-streak to nine matches.
“I felt like the first two sets I was the worst player until the last game of the second set when I break her and then the tie-break,” Kvitova said. “Then in the third I thought I was the better player, but that’s tennis.”

Kvitova was one for 11 on break points in the final set. Keys did well to save more than a handful on her own accord, but Kvitova had a relatively easy forehand on one that she put into the net.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have missed that forehand, but that’s just how it is,” she said. “I had more chances than that. I think both of us in the third were both mentally strong, it was just about the third and you never know how those tiebreaks will go.”

“It was a good fight and finally I am done here.”

Kvitova finally found her game in China, winning the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open last week and making her third China Open quarterfinal. In all she went 8-1 through China to bring her ranking back up – she could return to the Top 10 next week depending on Konta’s results in Beijing – and finish the year strong. In all, Kvitova played nine matches in 12 days in China and a brief respite will do her good.

“I’m really tired and I just need to rest,” Kvitova said. “Especially when you lose you just feel more tired than normally.”

Kvitova will finish her regular season in Luxembourg next week and then will head to the WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai to finish her WTA season. “We are playing the final of the Fed Cup so I think it will be good to play in Zhuhai,” Kvitova said.

How big is the Konta-Keys semi @ChinaOpen?

Keys wins: Qualifies for @WTAFinalsSG.
Konta wins: Makes Top 10 debut, moves to No.8 in RTS.

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) October 7, 2016

3. Keys on the verge of qualifying for Singapore.

If she advances to the final she will lock down her Singapore spot*. The 21-year-old holds the keys to her own fate this week and Saturday’s semifinal looms particularly large considering she is not presently entered in any more tournaments before the WTA Finals. In other words, barring any last minute wildcards, Beijing is her last chance to earn points.

“It’s tough,” Keys told WTA Insider earlier in the week. “Do I use that as my motivation to try and figure it out or is that going to make me more nervous and put more pressure on me? It just depends on the day.

“Some days it’s like ‘No one say the word! We’re in Beijing, that’s all we’re doing, there’s no more tournaments for the rest of the year.’ Other days it’s like ‘This is really tough, grinding, it’s been a long season, but I’m that close.’ I want to put myself in the best position and I want to be able to walk away, qualifying or not, knowing that I did everything I could to get there.”

*Editor’s note: Karolina Pliskova has withdrawn from Linz and Garbiñe Muguruza has replaced her as a Top 10 direct entry into the main draw. In addition, Dominika Cibulkova and Keys have taken wildcards into Linz. As a result, while a win over Konta on Saturday will place Keys on the cusp of qualification, she will no longer automatically qualify for the WTA Finals by making the China Open final.