Madison Keys nearly injures herself in fall but survives to get past Coco Gauff at Eastbourne

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Madison Keys shrugged off an injury scare to progress to her second Eastbourne final by upsetting fellow American Coco Gauff with a straight-sets win at the Rothesay International. </p>

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The 2014 champion, who suffered a nasty slip in the middle of the second set, triumphed 6-3 6-3 against the world number seven at a blustery Devonshire Park. </p>

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Former US Open runner-up Keys had earlier on Friday been drawn to face British wildcard Sonay Kartal in the first round of Wimbledon. </p>

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She will take on Russian Daria Kasatkina, who overcame Italy's Camila Giorgi in the other last-four clash, in Saturday's final. </p>

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"I've had a little bit of a not great year so far, so being able to make a final here where I won my first title is amazing," the 28-year-old world number 25 said in her on-court interview. </p>

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"It's definitely 10 times more difficult when you have to play Coco and then you throw in hurricane winds on top of it. </p>

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"I'm very happy that I was able to have a not incredibly complicated match and get the win. I'm really looking forward to the final tomorrow." </p>

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Gauff, who defeated doubles partner Jessica Pegula to reach the semi-final, looked poised to stage a comeback. </p>

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However, after breaking serve in the first game of the second set, the 19-year-old blew a 40-0 lead and then hit a remarkable three double faults in a row at advantage to allow her opponent to level at 2-2. </p>

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Unseeded Keys was left holding her hip following a painful fall in the next game but recovered sufficiently to progress in an hour and 21 minutes. </p>

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"I just took a slip and my hip went in the direction it shouldn't have gone in," she said. "Hopefully it's fine for tomorrow." </p>

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World number 11 Kasatkina dug in to see off Giorgi in Friday's second semi-final, progressing 6-2 7-5. </p>

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The 26-year-old, playing her first tournament in Britain since 2021 following last year's ban on Russian and Belarusian players, breezed through the opening set in just over half-an-hour. </p>

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Yet she was forced to hold off a fightback in a tight second after Giorgi battled back from 4-1 down to level at 5-5. </p>

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