American Madison Keys produced a stunning performance to beat world No.2 Iga Swiatek 5-7 6-1 7-6 [10-8] in a thrilling, dramatic semifinal of Australian Open 2025 on Thursday night to reach the final at Melbourne Park for the first time.
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Swiatek served for the match at 6-5 in the decider and had a match point, but the 29-year-old broke again and then came from 7-5 down in the first-to-10 match tiebreak to reach her second Grand Slam final, eight years after finishing runner-up at the US Open.
“I’m in the finals,” said a jubilant Keys, who will take on two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in Saturday’s final.
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"That match was such high level, she played so well and I felt like I was trying to stay with it, then kind of ran through the second set and the third was just a battle. To be standing here and to be in the finals is absolutely amazing, and I’m so excited to be playing in the final on Saturday.”
This was a gruelling rollercoaster of a semifinal that had it all, blistering winners, double faults, breaks of serve, anxiety, mistakes and courage, with Keys eventually coming out on top after two hours, 35 minutes of sheer drama.
“I felt like I had a bit of momentum at the end of the first set, then ran through the second and the third set was so up and down, so many big chances we didn’t take and she had a match point,” Keys said.
“I feel like I blacked out at some point and was just running around.
“I think at the end we were both battling some nerves and just pushing each other, it just became who can get that final point, who can be that little bit better than the other one. I’m happy it was me.”
Swiatek had lost just 14 games en route to the semis, and had not dropped her serve from the second round through the quarterfinals. But with Keys battering returns right from the start, she was under constant pressure, her second serve particularly vulnerable.
Keys, who came into the event off the back of a title win in Adelaide, broke in the first game. Swiatek broke back immediately, but was struggling for rhythm on serve and fell behind once more.
Trying to reach her first Australian Open final, Swiatek steadied the ship to break back again and then won the next three games to lead 5-2. Keys was doing damage with her returns, though, and she broke back again when Swiatek missed a forehand for 5-4.
Serving to stay in the set, Keys missed a sitter of a bounce smash from almost on top of the net, but recovered well to hold for 5-5 only for Swiatek to then cut out the errors, holding serve and then breaking to win the set thanks to a good return.
That might have been the catalyst for Swiatek to pull away, but Keys had other ideas. Cutting loose on returns, she blasted winner after winner, breaking twice to lead 3-0 as Swiatek’s groundstrokes went awry.
Keys hit three straight aces in her next service game, broke Swiatek again for 5-0 and though the No.2 seed avoided a 0-6 set by breaking, Keys maintained her aggression and was rewarded with yet another break to seal the set.
Swiatek took a bathroom break before the start of the decider, and both women then settled into the most intense battle. Both players saved break points as they stayed on serve to 4-4, Swiatek digging herself out of trouble at 3-4, 15-40 and Keys saving herself from 0-40 in the following game.
Swiatek looked to have done enough when she broke for 6-5 and then moved to match point, but she missed a backhand under pressure and Keys broke to force a tiebreak.
Again, Swiatek pushed ahead, leading 7-5 and then 8-7 after a brilliant volley, but Keys won three straight points to clinch victory as Swiatek's final forehand flew long.