MELBOURNE, Jan 23: When Madison Keys finally finished off her 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (10-8) upset of No. 2 Iga Swiatek in a high-intensity, high-quality Australian Open semifinal on Thursday, saving a match point along the way, the 29-year-old American crouched on the court and placed a hand on her white hat.
She had a hard time believing it all. The comeback. What Keys called an “extra dramatic finish.” The victory over five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek, who’d been on the most dominant run at Melbourne Park in a dozen years. And now the chance to play in a Grand Slam final for a second time, eight years after being the U.S. Open runner-up.
“I’m still trying to catch up to everything that’s happening,” said the 19th-seeded Keys, who will face No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday for the trophy.
Keys claimed more games in the semifinal than the 14 total that Swiatek dropped in her five previous matches over the past two weeks.
SABALENKA CRUISES INTO FINAL
Sabalenka beat good friend Paula Badosa 6-4, 6-2 earlier Thursday. Sabalenka, a 26-year-old from Belarus, won the Australian Open the past two years and can become the first woman since 1999 to complete a threepeat. ”If she plays like this,” the 11th-seeded Badosa said about Sabalenka, “I mean, we can already give her the trophy.” The key statistic: Sabalenka finished with a 32-11 advantage in winners.
The last woman to reach three finals in a row at the year’s first Grand Slam tournament was Serena Williams, who won two from 2015-17. Martina Hingis was the most recent woman with a threepeat, doing it from 1997-1999.
Just 10 minutes into her semifinal, Sabalenka was down a break and trailed 2-0, 40-love. She was making unforced errors, shaking her head or gesturing toward her entourage in the stands after many.But the 26-year-old from Belarus quickly figured things out, especially once Rod Laver Arena’s retractable roof was shut late in the first set because of a drizzle. She straightened her strokes, frequently using huge returns and groundstrokes to overpower the 11th-seeded Badosa, who had eliminated No. 3 Coco Gauff on Tuesday to reach her first major semifinal.
Sabalenka and Badosa did their best to avoid any eye contact for much of the evening, whether up at the net for the coin toss or when they crossed paths at changeovers.
One exception came early in the second set, when Badosa tumbled to the court and flung her racket away to avoid injury. Badosa immediately put up a thumb to make clear she was fine. When a replay was shown on stadium video screens, Sabalenka pantomimed to indicate Badosa took a dive, and they both smiled.
When the match was over, they met at the net for a lengthy hug. (PTI)