The American Madison Keys (14th in the world) defeated the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina (27th) on Wednesday in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, before the matches of Iga Swiatek (2nd) and the defending champion Jannik Sinner (1st).
Keys stops Svitolina, place for Swiatek
Ten years after her first semi-final in Melbourne, the American Madison Keys (14th) once again qualified for the final four of the Australian Open by beating the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina (27th) in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. final, eliminated one round later than her husband Gaël Monfils.
The 2017 US Open finalist, now a three-time semi-finalist in Melbourne (2015, 2022, 2025), won 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in just under two hours, facing a a player she has now beaten four times in six duels.
After losing the first set, “I felt like I had to play a little more aggressively. She controlled a lot of points and made me run.”Keys noted after his victory.
“Luckily, I managed it. I think I’m playing a little smarter.” only in 2015, she concluded.
Polish Iga Swiatek during her match against German Eva Lys at the Australian Open in Melbourne, January 20, 2025 / Martin KEEP / AFP
Keys, qualified for the last four, now asks Iga Swiatek to join her in the semi-finals.
The Pole faces the inexhaustible Emma Navarro (8th), winner in three sets of her first four matches in Melbourne.
The American is the player who spent the most time on court in the women’s draw (10 hours and 14 minutes), where Swiatek on average only needed 67 and a half minutes to beat her first four opponents. , to whom she conceded barely eleven games on the road to the quarter-finals.
Swiatek is moving forward all the more confidently as the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announced on Monday that it would not appeal the one-month suspension (already served) imposed on the Pole by the International Agency for Doping. integrity of tennis (Itia) after a positive test for trimetazidine, a banned product.
-Swiatek, who maintained that her contamination had been accidental, declared herself ” satisfied “ of the AMA decision.
On Tuesday, double title holder in Melbourne Aryna Sabalenka qualified for the semi-finals. She will challenge on Thursday in the last four the Spaniard Paula Badosa (12th), who beat the American Coco Gauff (3rd) to offer herself, at 27 years old, her first Grand Slam semi-final.
The showman Shelton before the champion Sinner
After Swiatek, it is the American Ben Shelton (20th) who will enter the Rod Laver Arena to play the first men’s quarter-final of the day against the Italian Lorenzo Sonego (55th).
American Ben Shelton signs autographs after his match against Frenchman Gaël Monfils at the Australian Open in Melbourne, January 20, 2025 / David GRAY / AFP
Quarter-finalist in Melbourne in 2023, for his first participation in the Australian Open, the one who physically cracked the French veteran Gaël Monfils (38 years old) in the previous round will try to achieve a second victory in three matches against Sonego, after having already beaten him on hard court in 2022 at the Masters-1000 in Cincinnati.
Around 7:30 p.m. in Melbourne (08:30 GMT), world No.1 Jannik Sinner will face Australian Alex De Minaur (8th), the last hope of the local public.
Monday in the round of 16, the Italian title holder seemed to suffer from the heat, leaving the court with a scarlet face during a medical timeout and confident after the match having suffered from “dizziness”.
The temperature, much milder on Wednesday (around twenty degrees), should favor Sinner, who has never lost against De Minaur in nine duels.
If the world No.1 and his compatriot Lorenzo Sonego both qualify for the last four, Italy will have for the first time in 65 years (Roland-Garros 1960) two representatives in the last four of a Grand Slam tournament. .
