Match pics: Comebacking McNally getting there

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MONTREAL – It took a while for Madison Keys to find her power groove against the varied and tricky game of countrywoman Caty McNally.

But eventually, she got on top of her in a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 win that put her in the fourth round against No. 11 seed Karolina Muchova on Sunday.

In fact, it might be the perfect prep match for Keys, with Muchova playing a not-dissimilar style.

Both served at close to 70 per cent. And for a long time, it seemed McNally had a shot at the upset.

But then Keys started firing winners that even McNally’s topnotch retrieval skills couldn’t cope with.

Here’s what it looked like. The crowd really enjoyed this one.

McNally came into Montreal on a 10-match winning streak. She won the WTA 125 on grass in Newport. And then the following week she won a $100,000 ITF tournament in Evansville, Indiana.

She got the late start on Tuesday because of that Evansville run, and found herself in a battle with another American, the big-serving Alycia Parks, which she pulled out 9-7 in the third-set tiebreak.

After that 2h43 marathon in the big heat, she had to come back the very next day and she took care of the solid Rebecca Sramkova with ease.

Comeback from elbow surgery

McNally has been on a great run, mostly at the lower levels. Since losing in the first round of the Australian Open (which she entered on an injury protection ranking, with her live ranking being No. 540), she wen 38-12 before losing to Keys.

***McNally came into Montreal on a two-tournament title streak.***

An elbow issue compromised McNally’s rise in the rankings – first, she played with pain. Then, they tried to treat it conservatively. And finally, she had surgery.

McNally was out from Wimbledon in 2023 all the way to Linz, in early February 2024. And then she was out again from mid-February all the way to November, when she returned at a WTA 125 in Midland, Michigan with her ranking outside the top 1000.

Someone along the way she lost her clothing sponsorship deal, too.

She’ll be just 50 points from returning to the top 100, when the new rankings come out after Montreal. It’s too late to get straight into the US Open. And if we’ve got the rules right she’s used up her allowed Grand Slam slots on her protected ranking (although having gone out a second time, she might reset that total).

But it’s hard to see anyone catching her for the US Open wild-card race spot, even if the grass title won’t count towards that. She’ll earn 65 ranking points for her third-round effort