Madison Keys fought back from a set down in a high-intensity tennis match to shock Iga Swiatek and reach her first Australian Open final, where she will face two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka.
The 19th seed powered through a thrilling semifinal on a final-set tiebreak against the world number two 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (10-8) after Sabalenka had earlier swept aside Paula Badosa in straight sets on Thursday.
The 29-year-old Keys, who was the runner-up at the 2017 US Open, claimed more games against Swiatek than the five-time major champion had dropped in her five previous matches at Melbourne Park combined over the past two weeks.
The American was on the brink of defeat earlier, when Swiatek served for the match at 6-5 in the third set and was a point away from ending it at 40-30. Swiatek put a backhand into the net there, and eventually got broken by double-faulting, sending the match to a concluding first-to-10, win-by-two tie-breaker.
“I’m still trying to catch up to everything that’s happening. I’m in the finals. Woo-hoo,” 19th-seeded Keys said after the biggest win of her career.
“That match was just such a high level … I felt like I was fighting to stay in it … To be able to be standing here in the finals is absolutely amazing and I’m glad that I can be here on Saturday.
“I think at the end we were both battling some nerves and really pushing each other. It was about who could get that final point and be a little better than the other and I’m happy it was me. ”
Sabalenka produces ‘PlayStation tennis’ against Badosa
Sabalenka, who won the Australian Open the past two years, can become the first woman since 1999 to complete a threepeat.
The Belarusian top seed overwhelmed her best friend Badosa 6-4 6-2 in an impressive display of raw power to storm into her third straight title clash at the year’s opening Grand Slam, where she will bid for her fourth major title.
Sabalenka was also not perfect and trailed Badosa 2-0 in the opening set with a flurry of unforced errors, but she soon found her mark and put her dependable forehand to work to end the 11th seed’s run in the Spaniard’s first major semifinal.
“I have goosebumps. I’m so proud of myself and my team to put ourselves in this situation,” said Sabalenka as she set up the prospect of a ‘three-peat’ in Melbourne for the first time since Martina Hingis in 1997-99.
“If I put my name in history it will mean the world for me, I couldn’t even dream of it … I’ll go out and give everything in the final,” she added.
Badosa tried to conjure the fighting spirit that saw her eliminate Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals in one of the shocks of the tournament butSabalenka’s pressure wore her down.
“If she plays like this,” Badosa said about Sabalenka, “I mean, we can already give her the trophy. ”
Badosa went on to joke that the defending champion produced “PlayStation tennis”.
“With Aryna, it’s more like winners everywhere,” Badosa told reporters after racking up her sixth defeat in eight matches against the her friend.
“Sometimes you’re like, I don’t know, I’m just walking around the court because I feel like she’s playing a PlayStation.
“Today she was like that. So sometimes I’m like, ‘What’s happening? ’ I don’t have time even to think. ”
The two are good friends away from the court but it may be a while before the Spaniard can get over the defeat to hang out again with her Belarusian buddy.
“She’ll probably hate me for a day or two and then we can be friends again and go out shopping. I promise we’ll do that and I’ll pay for whatever she wants,” said the top seed.
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 to 2017.
Martina Hingis was the most recent woman with a threepeat, doing it from 1997 to 1999.
