Madison Keys saves match point, edges Iga Swiatek to reach Australian Open final

Madison Keys’ Grand Slam heartbreak is, at least for now, over.

The 29-year-old American, who has been on the wrong side of many major moments throughout her otherwise exceptional career, saved a match point—and perhaps played the match of her life—to defeat five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek, 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (8).

Keys will face two-time defending Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka in Saturday’s final, and in the process denied the first-ever major championship collision between the Belarusian and her longtime rival Swiatek.

Not that Madison minded.

For a while, an Aryna-Iga title bout looked a fait accompli. After Sabalenka defeated Paula Badosa with relative ease, Swiatek took a 5-2 lead over Keys. The Pole’s streak of 31 consecutive service holds had been snapped, but she was still making her opponent press.

Keys admirably rallied to reach 5-6, on serve. But the hole she had dig herself was too deep. She was broken for the fourth time in the first set after putting a backhand into the net—her 17^th unforced error of the young match.

But Keys’ rebound in the second set was a sign of things to come. Again she broke Swiatek right away, and she took a 2-0 lead after holding from 0-30.

“Very impressive,” said ESPN’s Mary Jo Fernandez.

Her surge continued after a Swiatek forehand error, which put the Pole in a double-break deficit. Then, Keys held at love for 4-0—with three aces.

“She’s taking the racquet out of Swiatek’s hands,” said ESPN’s Chris Fowler.

After only 19 minutes, Keys led 5-0. The roof in Rod Laver Arena was closed as Keys closed out the second set in a stunningly brisk fashion.

After an hour and 16 minutes, it was 7-5, 1-6. That’s when the drama began.

The deciding set began with six holds and two break-point saves, one from each player.

A seventh hold followed, and while no break points were saved, it may have been the most impressive hold of all. (Until it wasn’t.) With Keys serving at 30-all, she stuck an inside-out forehand winner from behind the baseline, followed by a backhand winner off Swatek’s second-serve return. She showed she was in for the fight, and in retrospect this was probably a must-win game for the U.S. star.

Swiatek answered with a steely hold for 4-all. Following a poor overhead miss at 15-30, she saved two break points—one after a giant Keys second-serve return at 30-40 that Swiatek amazingly kept in.

The serving dam seemed like it would break when Keys went down 0-40 in the next game. But she saved all three break points—making all three first serves. Then, after Swiatek claimed an 18-ball rally, Keys saved a fourth break point in the game, before holding for 5-4 with a winner.

Keys calmly answered with a pressure-packed hold for 5-5 from 15-30.

A pair of improbable breaks followed. First, Keys fell behind 0-40. She recovered to win the next two points, but opted for a drop shot at 30-40. Not a good choice against the swift (and Swift fan) Swiatek, who appeared to secure a pivotal break.

But with the match on her racquet, Swiatek blinked. She couldn’t keep Keys’ service return in play, and two points later, double-faulted on break point.

To a 10-point match tiebreak this instant classic fittingly went.

At the stroke of midnight, Swiatek led the breaker 3-1, the server taking all points. She would lose the mini-break advantage when Keys swiped a forehand winner down the line for a winner for 5-6, but a point later, a Keys backhand landed long.

Serving at 7-6, Swiatek opted for her own forehand down the line. But unlike Keys’ swipe, this shot found the net, and the critical error gave the No. 19 seed new life.

Aside from the second set, Swiatek almost never played poorly in this match—Keys was simply too resilient. When the Pole’s reflex volley landed in, giving her an 8-7 lead on a point Keys looked primed to win, it seemed the match would soon follow in her favor.

But Keys’ nerves were as strong as her serves. She struck an ace for 8-all, and then an unreturned serve for 9-8. It was suddenly match point.

Swiatek couldn’t properly answer, making an error to end a Melbourne marathon.

After shaking Swiatek’s hand, Keys walked to her chair and sat, tears of joy covering her face alongside two hours and 35 minutes’ worth of sweat. She has experienced some gutting defeats at the majors: a lopsided US Open final loss in 2017; a third-set tiebreak loss to Sabalenka in the 2013 US Open semis; an injury-impacted Wimbledon crusher last year.

Now, she experienced the other side of athletic combat.

“The third was just a battle,” said Keys. “To be able to be standing here and be in the final is absolutely amazing.”