Madison Keys overpowers Lauren Davis in Family Circle Cup

Madison Keys breezed into the semi-finals of the Family Circle Cup with a 6-2 6-2 victory over fellow American Lauren Davis.

The seventh-seeded 20-year-old needed just 73 minutes to wrap up the victory on the clay in Charleston, South Carolina.

Keys routinely pounded down serves in excess of 100 mph and hit precision groundstrokes for winners as she overpowered Davis, 21, who had beaten top-seed Eugenie Bouchard of Canada on Wednesday.

"I think I was rushing a little bit at the beginning," Keys said. "After that I really kind of calmed down and just started playing the right balls, just being a little bit smarter on the court."

Australian Open semi-finalist Keys will now play Czech qualifier Lucie Hradecka, who upset fourth-seeded former French Open runner-up Sara Errani 6-2 6-4.

Since reaching the semis in Melbourne, Keys has been eliminated early in her only two tournaments, at Indian Wells and Miami, but the start of the clay season has been good for her game.

"It's been a pretty good week," she said. "I haven't had many complaints about how I've been playing. I'm not trying to get too high on myself, I'm just trying to keep playing how I've been playing."

Fifth-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany toppled 13th-seeded Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-4).

Kerber's opponent in the semi-finals will be her third-seeded compatriot and defending champion Andrea Petkovic, who rallied from a first-set loss to down Danka Kovinic 2-6 6-3 6-1.

Petkovic defeated Slovakia’s Jana Cepelova in last year's final.