Four months after surgery, Madison Keys making an impression in front of coach Lindsay Davenport

Tennis coach and former player Lindsay Davenport claps for Madison Keys after Keys defeated Naomi Osaka at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament on Mar. 13.

March 13, 2017 11:10 PM PT

Madison Keys didn’t get much time to work on her backhand before arriving at the BNP Paribas Open, her first tournament since she underwent arthroscopic surgery on her left wrist in November. After she advanced to the fourth round with a 6-1, 6-4 rout of Naomi Osaka on Monday, it’s mind-boggling to imagine how much better she soon might be.

Reunited with coach Lindsay Davenport, who had ended their previous collaboration because of family demands and obligations that include Tennis Channel commentary, the right-handed Keys is inching her way back to top form, though she kept her expectations low. “I was, like, if I get a set I’ll be happy,” said Keys, who will face Caroline Wozniacki on Tuesday.

She has exceeded that, and Davenport is satisfied with Keys’ progress following a recovery that went almost perfectly. “It’s worked out to where here we are and she’s able to play, right now at a good level,” Davenport said. “The beauty of the left wrist is every other shot can be perfected and worked on, and when the backhand is ready to go, the backhand’s ready to go.”

Davenport, a tennis hall of famer, lives in Southern California but has traveled to Keys’ base in Florida. They also spent two weeks training in Hawaii. Wherever they are, they simply get each other. “We have a lot of the same beliefs or attitudes,” Davenport said. “I get sometimes when she’s struggling and why, and certain personality traits. We’ve always super-enjoyed our time together, alone, chatting, whatever it is. Rarely do you get another opportunity to do something you really love and maybe do it a little bit better, a little bit wiser. I’m really happy that we both had that opportunity.”

Davenport is cautious in setting targets for Keys until they’re sure Keys’ wrist has completely healed.

“I have high hopes for her in the next two months,” she said. “Then we can start really working on targets and shape and different styles of backhands, and I feel like when that comes together for her it will really be big. I think everybody on her team ... thinks the sky’s the limit.”

King steps aside

Billie Jean King announced that she has relinquished majority ownership of World Team Tennis but will keep a minority stake and majority ownership of the Philadelphia Freedoms franchise. Mark Ein, founder and owner of the Washington Kastles, and Fred Luddy, owner of the San Diego Aviators, will be WTT’s majority owners.

Kerber advances

No. 2-seeded Angelique Kerber won the last three games of the first set and erased Pauline Parmentier’s 4-1 lead in the third set to earn a 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 victory. Her fourth-round opponent will be Elena Vesnina of Russia, who defeated Timea Babos of Hungary, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4. No. 4 Simona Halep, recently returned from a knee injury, was upset by surging No. 28 Kristina Mladenovic of France, 6-3, 6-3. Mladenovic will face unseeded American Lauren Davis, a 5-foot-2 dynamo who defeated Julia Goerges of Germany, 6-1, 6-4.

Among the men, No. 3 Stan Wawrinka advanced with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Philipp Kohlschreiber, but Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka — who got into the tournament as a lucky loser — upset No. 13 Tomas Berdych, 1-6, 7-6(5), 6-4. Vasek Pospisil of Canada, who upset No. 1 Andy Murray in the previous round, fell to Dusan Lajovic of Serbia, 6-7(4), 6-3, 7-5, and Gael Monfils of France eliminated American John Isner, 6-2, 6-4.