Madison Keys reaches Australian Open semifinals,…
MELBOURNE, Australia — Madison Keys is back into the Australian Open semifinals for a third time after her 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win Wednesday over Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.
The 29-year-old Keys is on a 10-match profitable streak after warming up for the yr’s first main with a title at Adelaide, the place she beat fellow American Jessica Pegula within the ultimate.
Her run to the semifinals at Melbourne Park has included victories over two former Australian Open finalists — Danielle Collins and Elina Rybakina — within the third and fourth rounds.
Madison Key celebrates after her quarterfinal win over Elina Svitolina on the Australian Open. JAMES ROSS/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Keys, the 2017 U.S. Open runner-up, subsequent faces five-time Grand Slam singles champion Iga Swiatek, who scored a 6-1, 6-2 win, in her quarterfinal match towards No. 8 seed Emma Navarro
This is Keys’ eleventh journey to the Australian Open, the place her best performances have resulted in semifinal losses to the eventual champion: towards Serena Williams in 2015 and to Australia’s Ash Barty in 2022.
“I think I play a little bit smarter for sure … probably a little bit less fearless,” Keys stated of the variations in her recreation over a decade. “But to be here 10 years later in the semifinals again, I’m really proud of myself and really excited to play another.”
Svitolina was in control during the primary set and took a lot of changes from Keys to show the momentum of the match. Keys began advancing to the web sooner and more ceaselessly, cut down her errors and located her vary and more pace along with her booming forehand and serve.
She gained 23 of the 26 factors she performed on the internet and hit 49 winners, together with 23 on the forehand facet.
It wasn’t till the sixth recreation of the second set that she transformed a break-point probability, her seventh, to go forward 4-2. From then, momentum was largely with the American.
Iga Swiatek hits a backhand during her 6-1, 6-2 win over Emma Navarro within the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. JAMES ROSS/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
The No. 19-seeded Keys broke within the fifth recreation of the third set and held her nerve to close it out in just below two hours.
Svitolina, a 30-year-old from Ukraine, was enjoying her third quarterfinal in Australia, and first since shedding to eventual champion Naomi Osaka in 2019.
The former world No. 3 has nonetheless by no means gone previous the final eight at Melbourne Park, along with her runs to the semifinals at Wimbledon in 2023 and 2019 and the U.S. Open in 2019 remaining her main highlights.
As for he No. 2-seeded Swiatek, she not solely has not dropped a set thus far within the match, but in addition has misplaced a grand complete of solely 14 video games as she seeks her first title at Melbourne Park and sixth Grand Slam trophy general.
The final girl to make it to the Australian Open semifinals having ceded fewer than 15 video games was Maria Sharapova back in 2013.
“I’m really happy with the tournament overall,” stated Swiatek, who will face No. 19 Madison Keys of the U.S. on Thursday evening for a berth within the ultimate. “Being in the semis is great. I’ll push for more.”
Swiatek benefited from what gave the impression to be a missed double-bounce on a level she gained within the second set, however Navarro didn’t instantly ask for a video review. Either means, Swiatek’s dominance was fairly clear, even when she was modest about issues afterward.
“Well, I think it was much more tougher than the score says,” stated Swiatek, a 23-year-old from Poland. “Emma’s a fighter … and I wanted to stay focused and keep my intensity.”
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