The American reached the final for the first time in her career in Melbourne, thanks to an incredible three-set victory over Swiatek, 5-7, 6-1, 7-6.
The long-awaited final between Sabalenka and Swiatek will not take place. However, the Pole seemed well on her way to joining the Belarusian, who qualified a few hours earlier. Swiatek snatched a very choppy first set (7-5) but lost the thread in the second dispatched in 27 minutes by his opponent (6-1). Swiatek, in distress, accumulating unforced errors.
The last act, on the other hand, was unbreathable and epic. And it was Keys who had the last word. The American found the key in a roller coaster encounter. The 2017 US Open finalist rejected a match point, before winning in the super tie-break (10-8) on her first match point. “I'm still trying to wrap my head around what's happening. Yes, I’m in the final!” said Madison Keys incredulously. Returning to the final seven and a half years after her first Grand Slam, lost to Sloane Stephens at the 2017 US Open.
Five-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek stops in the semi-finals for the second time in Melbourne, a stage she has never passed in the first Grand Slam tournament of the season…
-The 23-year-old Warsaw also loses an opportunity to regain the throne of world number 1, from which Sabalenka knocked her down in October but which she would have regained if she had beaten the Belarusian in the final. And if Keys, 29 years old, managed a huge performance, she also benefited from the numerous mistakes of her opponent, very feverish, while she was walking on the water and on her opponents since the start of the tournament…
