Match Details
Fixture: (1) Madison Keys vs (5) Clara Tauson
Date: January 3, 2025
Tournament: ASB Classic 2025
Round: Quarterfinal
Venue: ASB Tennis Centre, Auckland, New Zealand
Category: WTA 250
Surface: Hardcourt (outdoor)
Prize Money: $275,094
Live Telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Sky Sports
Madison Keys vs Clara Tauson preview
Top seed Madison Keys will take on Clara Tauson in the quarterfinals of the ASB Classic 2025.
Keys kicked off her run in Auckland with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Lucia Bronzetti, which set up a second-round date with Jaqueline Cristian. The first set was a walk in the park for the American, who dropped only one game en route to taking it. Her opponent played slightly better in the second set but proved to be no match for her, and she won the match 6-1, 6-2.
Tauson beat Lucrezia Stefanini 6-2, 6-3 to reach the second round, where former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin awaited her. The young Dane went down an early break in the opening set, and couldn't recover from that setback, which cost her the set.
Tauson found herself on the backfoot after going down 3-0 in the second set but bagged the next three games to get back on serve. However, Kenin inched ahead once again by claiming the next two games and eventually served for the match.
Tauson struck back in time and stopped the American from closing out the match. The set soon went to a tie-break, in which the 22-year-old raced to a 6-2 lead but let go of four set points. She then saved a match point and nabbed the set on her fifth set point to force a decider.
The third set saw Tauson giving up a break advantage to let Kenin back into the match. The set went down to the wire, and she outplayed the American in the tie-break to wrap up a 4-6, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (3) comeback win.
Madison Keys vs Clara Tauson head-to-head
This will be the first meeting between them, so the head-to-head currently stands at 0-0.
Madison Keys vs Clara Tauson odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Madison Keys vs Clara Tauson prediction
Tauson rallied from the brink of defeat to sneak past Kenin. She rained down 26 aces and won 79 percent of her first serve points. Keys, meanwhile, had it easy against Cristian, and other than losing her serve once, there weren't any major hiccups.
While Tauson showed nerves of steel to get past Kenin, she will still need to raise her level if she intends to take down Keys. The 22-year-old had a 2-11 record against the top 50 players last year, clearly indicating that she's yet to reach that level of consistency to challenge the big guns on the tour.
Keys, meanwhile, went 16-6 against players ranked outside the top 20 in 2024. Given her performances in the first couple of rounds, coupled with Tauson's poor record against top players, the American will be expected to continue her run here.
Pick: Madison Keys to win in straight sets.