WATCH—Madison Keys, after her second-round win at Roland Garros:

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PARIS—Technically, the second-round match between 13th-seeded Madison Keys and 125th-ranked Caroline Dolehide at the French Open lasted one hour and nine minutes. But genuinely, all was decided in just 12.

Thirty-one minutes into it, Dolehide served at 4-all. After breaking Dolehide in a nine-minute opening game, Keys had immediately surrendered her serve. The two had then settled into a contemporary slugfest between two eerily similar players, each bolstered by fine kick and flat serves, bazooka-like forehands and, alas, scattered errors that appeared fueled by everything from poor movement to wavering concentration to questionable decision-making. All of it was rather raw—but, when each connected, keenly impressive.

At 4-4, Keys made a forehand unforced error—and then Dolehide surrendered whatever advantage she might have owned at that point as the underdog. At 15-love, she attempted to serve and volley; in theory a good idea, especially given the benign quality of Keys’ return. But in practice, it didn't work out. Let’s just say that when it comes to backhand volley technique, Dolehide has a large upside. The volley plummeted into the net.

At 15-all, Dolehide shanked a makeable forehand. At 15-30, rather inexplicably, she opted to approach from fairly far behind the service line, making it easy for Keys to strike a forehand passing shot winner. At 15-40, a double-fault.

Soon enough, Keys had served out the first set and broken Dolehide to start the second. The match was now 43 minutes long.

WATCH—Match point, Keys d. Dolehide:

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In terms of her game, Keys is a contemporary version of Pete Sampras. The comparison starts with a look at her serve. Sitting right behind the baseline on cozy Court 7 (capacity 1,351), I took in Keys’ service motion from a distance of ten feet. If you’re a fan of exquisite, sculpted technique, look no further than this mesmerizing, sustainable delivery—unquestionably one of the finest motions in contemporary tennis. Should Keys achieve grand results, it will be remembered as one of the finest serves ever.

Like Sampras, Keys is less grinder than gunslinger. Like Sampras, balls in Keys’ matches fly in all sorts of directions, sometimes smack on the line, other times severely long or wide. Concentration? Technique?  Tactics? Who knows? Either way, at least in this match, when high noon came, Keys stuck around just enough and seized the day. Dolehide blinked.

It will be intriguing to track Dolehide's progress. As recently as last July, she was ranked No. 251 in the world. This was her Grand Slam debut, and surely she learned much—for at least 43 minutes, was able to go toe-to-toe with an elite player.

How will Dolehide seek improvement? More power? Perhaps, just maybe, she’ll learn to become more familiar with the forward part of the court, an area where at least on this day she was painfully awkward.

After breaking for 1-0 in the second, Keys fought off three break points, held for 2-0 and then dropped just one more game. It was a rather workmanlike 6-4, 6-1 effort; scarcely brilliant, but present when it mattered most. And yet, while Keys can surely play better tennis, this kind of sporadic match flow seems her pattern. Don’t expect to see Keys register a score line with minimal unforced errors. They will happen. But so will a superb ability to build points with smooth power—if not relentless, certainly effective.

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A 12-minute stretch opened the floodgates for Keys and doomed Dolehide

A 12-minute stretch opened the floodgates for Keys and doomed Dolehide

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