Madison Keys produced one of the greatest performances of her career to upset world No2 Iga Swiatek and reach her second Grand Slam final.
Ever since turning pro aged just 14 and becoming one of the youngest ever players to win a WTA-level match, Keys has been reckoned to have the talent to win a major title.
That pressure has looked like a heavy burden to bear at times in an excellent career which has never quite touched greatness. But after saving a match point to beat Swiatek 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 she has another chance to become a Grand Slam champion, in Saturday’s final against Aryna Sabalenka, who beat her close friend Paula Badosa in the earlier semi-final.
Keys’ last major final was at the US Open in 2017, when she never really showed up against fellow American Sloane Stephens.
But the 29-year-old spoke after her quarter-final win about how she has ceased to view a Grand Slam title as the holy grail without which she cannot be satisfied.
‘I’m starting to appreciate my career for what it has been, and it doesn’t have to have a Grand Slam in order for me to look at it and say, I’ve done a really good job,’ she said.
‘While that’s obviously still the goal, there have been periods of my career where it felt like if I didn’t win one, then I hadn’t done enough, I didn’t live up to my potential.
‘It took a lot of the fun out of the game and there were times when it felt paralyzing.’
Keys was the polar opposite of paralysed here. She was loose and relaxed and potent. She threw everything she had at Swiatek and held her nerve in the vital moments – most strikingly when holding from 0-40 down at 4-4 in the deciding set.
This was a white-knuckle ride of a match – the best of the women’s event so far – and it culminated in a sensational third set.
From the very first point of the match it was clear this would be a very different challenge to any that Swiatek has faced this week. Keys clattered a succession of massive forehands, ending with a thumping winner.
That is the way Keys plays; the way she has always played since turning pro aged 14 and becoming one of the youngest players ever to win a WTA-level match. She has struggled to harness her power and has at times lacked the mental fortitude to close out the biggest and tightest matches.
But on her day Keys can beat anyone and today was her day.
Swiatek is utterly dominant on clay but on the faster surfaces she can be rushed, especially on the forehand side, where she has a relatively long take-back. At this Australian Open, where she had annihilated all comers thus far, Swiatek adapted by becoming even more intense and aggressive than usual; rushing her opponents before they can rush her.
She went blow-for-blow with Keys, then, and the result was a frantic start to the match, with seven breaks of serve in the first set. It all looked very untidy but this was a smart performance from Swiatek. She was brave enough to take on the risky forehand down the line in order to access the Keys backhand and break the rhythm of cross-court pummelling.
With Swiatek leading 3-2 the roof was closed due to a few droplets of rain and, in retrospect, that could have been pivotal. To such a low-margin player as Keys, playing in sanitised indoor conditions was a definite advantage.
Still it never really felt like she had matters under control – such a thing is close-to impossible against Keys. At 5-2 up Swiatek had a set point on the Keys serve, but the Floridian clicked into gear and won seven points in a row, bringing us back on serve.
When Keys served to stay in the set Swiatek played a couple of quality points and gave a huge fist pump as she secured the break.
That mini-comeback from 5-2 down had settled Keys into the match, though, and she flew at Swiatek in the second set.
Swiatek has played with a breathless intensity this fortnight, taking minimal time between points. As she rampaged through to the semis that approach seemed to suffocate her opponents, but as Keys reeled off game after game, that intensity began to look like tension; that hurrying looked like rushing. She was chuntering to, and glowering at, her new coach Wim Fissette and her shoulders were hunched.
The second set disappeared in less than half an hour.
Keys had been swinging free but now, just a set away from the final, she had something to lose – how would she cope with that mentally, against a warrior like Swiatek?
She began the deciding set with a massive ace and a good hold, and the match settled into a high-class contest with both women playing well.
Serving at 3-4, Swiatek missed an overhead to give Keys two break points. On the second of those Keys hit a colossal return and Swiatek shovelled a half-volley back into play and somehow survived to hold.
Then came the game of the match as these two went toe to toe in a series of brutal exchanges, Keys eventually holding from 0-40 down.
Swiatek came again at 5-5 and Keys double faulted to again go 0-40 down. There were two forehand winners but then a highly ill-advised drop shot which Swiatek fizzed down the line.
After two hours and 15 minutes the No2 seed served for the match. Keys just kept swinging on the return and on break point Swiatek double-faulted. As was entirely appropriate, the match would be decided by a tiebreak, first to 10.
Inevitably we reached 7-7 and Swiatek produced a brilliant forehand volley at full stretch, the shot of the match. Keys responded with an ace. 8-8. Another terrific serve. Match point Keys and Swiatek ballooned a forehand long.
What a match.
