'A lot of crazy things happening': Keys wins wild Wimbledon three-setter

WIMBLEDON -- There were twists and turns. There were net cords and underarm serves. There was physical distress and an unfortunate charge straight into the net. And after 2 hours and 41 minutes, at the end of a wild three-set ride, there was only one winner: Madison Keys. 

The No. 6 seed held off Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-7(4), 7-5, 7-5 to reach the Wimbledon second round.

Wimbledon: Scores | Order of play | Draw

It was the second time in a Grand Slam this year she survived a stern test from Ruse -- and despite coming so close to defeat, the déjà vu could be positive for Keys. She trailed Ruse by a third-set break in the second round of the Australian Open in January, before escaping 7-6(1), 2-6, 7-5. Less than two weeks later, she had gone on to lift her first major trophy.

In the rematch, Ruse -- who reached her first grass-court final in 's-Hertogenbosch three weeks ago -- came out swinging as though she had unfinished business. The Romanian led throughout the first set, and despite Keys twice pegging her back from a break down, snatched it in a tiebreak. But Ruse began visibly ailing in the second set, calling for a medical timeout after the third game and collapsing to the ground in the ninth game.

The match only got wilder from there. Ruse battled on, leveling at 5-5 from 5-3 down despite her issues -- only for Keys to close the set out anyway. In the decider, Keys had to navigate all manner of unexpected obstacles as she sought to protect another early lead.

At 2-0, holding two points for a double break, Keys was denied by a Ruse underarm serve that caught the outer edge of the line. Serving for the match at 5-4, she was broken back as, chasing down a short Ruse ball loaded with so much spin that it bounced back on her side of the court, the American charged straight into the net.

In light of that, Keys' resilience in shaking off the setbacks to make one last push for victory was remarkable -- and the scream of relief she let out after Ruse ballooned a return long on match point was possibly the only predictable aspect of the match.

"Definitely a lot of crazy things happening out there today," Keys said afterward. "I feel like once you have one or two of those things happen, you kind of just assume that there's going to be lots of them. Especially after the underhand serve, I was kind of waiting for something else wild to happen. It's just one of those days where you kind of know anything goes, and you just have to be ready for everything.

"But yeah, happy that I was able to rebound after the ball that bounced back over the net."