American seventh seed Madison Keys secured her place in the 2025 French Open quarter-finals on June 1, 2025, defeating compatriot Hailey Baptiste in a three-set battle, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.
Keys, 29, overcame a sluggish start, dropping the first set after Baptiste’s aggressive baseline play yielded 15 winners. Rallying in the second, Keys unleashed 28 winners, including 10 aces, and capitalized on Baptiste’s 25 unforced errors to level the match. The third set saw Keys dominate, breaking Baptiste twice to seal her fifth Roland Garros quarter-final in 73 minutes.
Keys, a 2017 US Open finalist, credited her improved clay movement, honed after her 2025 Australian Open final loss to Aryna Sabalenka, for the turnaround. Baptiste, 23, ranked 96, showed promise, winning 70% of her first-serve points, but lacked consistency against Keys’ power. The win, watched by 10,000 fans, marks Keys as one of eight Americans in the Round of 16, a feat not seen since 1985.
She faces either Liudmila Samsonova or Qinwen Zheng next, with a potential semi-final against Iga Swiatek looming. Social media buzzed with praise for Keys’ resilience, though some noted Baptiste’s potential as a future star. The match highlights the depth of American women’s tennis, with Keys, Coco Gauff, and Jessica Pegula all in contention.