Deep within the remaining set of one of the extraordinary matches of her profession, the violent, harmful ball putting of Madison Keys was nonetheless in full move. From a set down, Keys had dragged herself again into the match by brutalising each tennis ball in sight. Then she had proven her gritty resilience all through a desperately tight third set. Each time Iga Swiatek tried to drag away, Keys someway pressured her approach again in.
One of many enduring questions surrounding Keys’ profession has been whether or not she possesses the killer intuition and nerve to take care of her supreme shot-making beneath stress within the largest matches of her profession. The reply has usually been destructive, however right here Keys supplied a supreme demonstration of her toughness as she saved a match level earlier than rising victorious instantly traditional, defeating a gritty Iga Swiatek to achieve her first Australian Open remaining with a 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (8) win over the No 2 seed.
With one of many best victories of her 16-year profession, Keys will contest the second grand slam remaining of her profession in opposition to Aryna Sabalenka, the two-time defending champion and No 1 seed. Keys’ solely different grand slam remaining got here on the US Open in 2017, when she misplaced to her buddy Sloane Stephens. Having triumphed on the Adelaide Open within the week earlier than the Australian Open, Keys is now on an 11-match successful streak. Swiatek’s defeat signifies that Sabalenka will maintain on to her No 1 rating after the match.
It was all the time clear that Keys might severely problem Swiatek. She is likely one of the finest servers on the earth and one of many largest ball strikers the game has ever seen. As she confirmed when she defeated Swiatek on the lightning-fast onerous courts of Cincinnati in 2022, Keys completely suits the profile of the kind of participant that has traditionally had success in opposition to Swiatek. She has the uncooked firepower to hurry the Swiatek forehand and pummel her susceptible second serve, whereas a supreme serving day can maintain Swiatek’s return of serve at bay.
After permitting her first 5 opponents simply 14 video games between them, the nerves exhibited by Swiatek within the opening video games mirrored Keys’ high quality. After a sloppy begin, Swiatek’s defence and skill to flip factors from defence to assault pissed off Keys as Swiatek established a 5-2 lead.
Though the pair had began outdoor in cool, windy night circumstances, a spot of drizzling rain pressured the organisers to shut the roof. With out the weather to battle, Keys started to swing with whole confidence and freedom. After dragging Swiatek again to 5-5, although, Keys was punished for her poor serving sport at 5-6 as Swiatek smothered her second serve all through.
Nonetheless, Keys continued to strike the ball spectacularly all through the second set, robbing time from Swiatek with the sheer brutality of her shotmaking off each groundstrokes. As Keys continued to rack up video games, she even opened up her service sport at 4-0 with three consecutive aces. It didn’t take lengthy for her to shut out in opposition to an more and more tense Swiatek.
With a grand slam remaining on the road and Keys persevering with to laser winners from all components of the court docket, Swiatek dug deep firstly of the third set as she held onto her serve and tried to stress Keys’ service video games. Keys responded brilliantly, eviscerating forehands and hitting herself out of hazard in service video games all through the third set earlier than producing two break factors at 4-3, 15-40. After lacking each break factors, Keys produced a service maintain for the ages, recovering from 0-40 down and saving 4 break factors within the sport to carry for 5-4.
From 4-5 down, although, serving to remain within the match, Swiatek held serve earlier than a drained, errant service sport from Keys yielded the primary break of the set. Swiatek confidently stepped as much as the baseline to serve out the match and victory was in sight as she dragged herself to match level at 6-5. As a substitute, down match level, Keys pressured a backhand error from Swiatek with a superb return of serve to remain alive. After pulling herself right into a remaining set tiebreak, Keys maintained her fearless aggression till the bitter finish as she closed out an unbelievable efficiency with an unforgettable win.
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