Australian Open Day 12: Madison Keys to face Aryna Sabalenka in women’s final

Proof that good things come to those who hang tough, Madison Keys produced one of the upsets of the Australian Open to book a date with Aryna Sabalenka in a tantalising final match-up.

Proof that good things come to those who hang tough through thick and thin, American Madison Keys displayed nerves of steel to produce the biggest upset of this year’s Australian Open.

Managing to keep her cool in a centre court heart-stopper, Keys saved a match point before stunning Poland’s Iga Swiatek 5-7 6-1 7-6 in a wild semi-final on Thursday night.

A decade after her first semi appearance at Melbourne Park, Keys made it third time lucky when she toppled the world No. 2 to reach her first Australian Open final and second ever grand slam decider.

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Madison Keys celebrates victory. Picture: Yuichi YAMAZAKI / AFP

“I’m still trying to catch up to everything that is happening,” Keys said. “I’m in the final.

“That match was such high level and she played so well and I just felt like I was fighting to stay in it.”

After surviving one of the most nailbiting matches seen on Rod Laver Arena in years, the 29-year-old will play Aryna Sabalenka in the title match after the two-time defending champion advanced at the expense of her good friend Paula Badosa.

For both women, the stakes could not be any higher. As well as the grand slam title on offer, there’s also $3.5 million up for grabs for the winner.

On current form, Sabalenka will start as favourite because she’s been destroying all her opponents, dropping only one set in six matches.

“There will definitely be some big hitting and definitely not a lot of long points but she’s obviously going for her third Australian Open and I’m excited to get to play her. I’m really excited for the challenge,” Keys said.

“Saturday is very far ahead in my brain right now. I’m probably going to go and hug my team and then I will have a bunch of obligations that I will run around and do but I think I’m just going to try and enjoy this a little bit and then get ready for Saturday.”

Keys is seriously battle hardened after her last three matches all went the distance - though neither of the previous two were as tense as this instant classic.

A US Open finalist in 2017 and a semi-finalist in all the grand slams except Wimbledon, Keys was able to call on all her big match experience to fight off her younger opponent.

The 23-year-old Pole had not dropped a set in her five matches at Melbourne Park this year but Keys was able to put Swiatek’s normally reliable serve under enormous pressure, breaking her three times in the opening set then four times in the second to send it into a third.

Iga Swiatek has still never made the final in Melbourne. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

“It was so up and down and there were so many big points and break point chances that neither one of us got,” Keys said.

“I feel I blacked out at one point and I was just there running around so just to be able to stay in it and stay fighting, and then a ten-point tie-breaker for an extra dramatic finish.

“I think at the end we were both battling some nerves and really just pushing each other and it came who can get this final point and who can kind of just be a little bit better than the other one, and I’m happy it was me.”

Swiatek is also one of the best returners in the game so she was able to turn the blowtorch back on her opponent’s serve, as the pair went toe to toe from start to finish.

With a place in the final on the line, it came to a battle of nerves and Keys held hers together to come up with the big plays just when she needed it, saving a match point in the 12th game before winning the tie-breaker 10-8.

Nearing exhaustion, she raised her arms in triumph when she sealed the win, with her coach and husband Bjorn Fratangelo joining in the celebrations from courtside.

“I feel like even though I lost the first set I was playing some better tennis at the end of it and that I had a little bit of momentum going into the second set. To be able to run with that second set and really just be able to settle was really nice,” she said.

Swiatek’s loss means Aryna Sabalenka will leave Melbourne with the number 1 ranking. Yuichi YAMAZAKI / AFP

“The third was just a battle and to be able to be standing here and be in the finals is absolutely amazing and I’m so excited that I get to be here on Saturday,” she said.

For Swiatek, the loss was gut wrenching.

A five-time Grand Slam winner, with four French Open titles and a US Open title, she has never made an Australian Open final and would have regained the No. 1 running had she won the title.

She’s had a tough time since arriving in Melbourne, grilled by the media after it was revealed she tested positive for the banned heart drug trimetazidine (TMZ) at an out of competition in August last year.

Although she maintains she did nothing wrong, and the International Tennis Integrity Agency agreed that the positive test was caused by contamination, she still received a one-month ban.

Originally published as Australian Open Day 12: Madison Keys to face Aryna Sabalenka in women’s final