And then came the second set. It was here that Keys seemed to completely forget what was working for her. The 23-year-old was no longer playing like the aggressor, and it was Pera who began to dictate play.
Even with that being the case, Keys still earned a match point in the set. At 5-6, Keys was able to get the score to 30-40 on Pera's serve. She then committed an unforced error on her return. From there, Pera took control of things. The Croatian-American held serve for 6-6 and then topped Keys in the tiebreaker.
In the third set, it was looking like the match was also going Pera's way. The world No. 101 broke Keys to go up 4-2, but the mishap seemingly served as a wakeup call for the No. 7 seed. Keys played with a serious sense of urgency from then on, as Pera began to serve for a 5-2 lead.
Keys would break Pera to get back on serve, playing the same style of aggressive tennis that she played in the opening set. She was going after her shots early and moving Pera all over the court. She then held for 4-4 and controlled the match from there. Pera was able to get the score to 5-5, but Keys won the next two games to close it out.
It wasn't her best performance, but the world No. 14 is going to be happy—and relieved—to be advancing to the semifinals.
