US Open 2020: Madison Keys vs Timea Babos preview, head-to-head & prediction

Match details

Fixture: Madison Keys vs Timea Babos

Date: 1 September 2020

Tournament: US Open 2020

Round: First round (Round of 128)

Venue: Flushing Meadows, New York, USA

Category: Grand Slam

Surface: Outdoor hardcourt

Prize money: $39,024,000

Match timing: 5:00 pm EDT, 2:30 am IST

Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel / ESPN | India - Star Sports & Hotstar

Madison Keys vs Timea Babos preview

Seventh seed Madison Keys will begin her campaign at this year’s US Open on Tuesday when she takes on Hungary’s Timea Babos.

For home favourite Keys, anything short of a second week appearance will be counted as a failure considering the straightforward nature of her draw till the fourth round.

Madison Keys will be looking to get over her defeat in the second round of the recently concluded Western & Southern Open. Keys was utterly dominated by Ons Jabeur in that match causing her to lose in straight sets (6-4, 6-1).

However, before the pandemic struck, Keys had done well at Brisbane International where she lost in the finals. Her performance at the Australian Open though was a tad disappointing as she lost in the third round to Maria Sakkari.

The 101-ranked Babos can only boast of a single non-qualifying win all year so far as the Hungarian has struggled to make it past those stages on a few occasions. She thus comes into the singles draw at the US Open with nothing to lose. This might just allow her to play her natural game as opposed to Keys who comes in with the added pressure of being American.

Madison Keys vs Timea Babos head-to-head

Madison Keys leads the h2h by 3-1

Madison Keys leads Timea Babos by 3-1 in the head-to-head. They have played once on hard-courts, twice on grass and once on clay. Their only hard-count encounter in Cincinnati in 2012 was won in straight sets (6-3, 6-0) by Madison Keys.

However, the last time the duo faced each other was in 2016 where Keys won both their matches.

Madison Keys vs Timea Babos prediction

Madison Keys

By virtue of being a top level doubles player, Timea Babos possesses a really good serve as well as deft hands at the net. If she can use those to exploit the quick nature of the newly laid courts at Flushing Meadows, Madison Keys could come under pressure.

That being said, former US Open finalist Madison Keys herself has quite a few weapons at her disposal which can trouble the Hungarian greatly. The American has a pretty decent serve which tends to push her opponents out of their starting position. Her forehand, in particular, is depth heavy which can be difficult to tackle for Babos who generally struggles at the baseline.

The key for Madison Keys would be to keep errors to the minimum especially on the backhand side. If she manages to do that then Babos will not have too much of an opening in this match-up.

Prediction: Keys to win in straight sets.