Keys conquers Swiatek in pulsating thriller to reach maiden Australian Open final
The American edged out the second seed 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (8) to reach her second Grand Slam final and her first at the Australian Open
Madison Keys, Australian Open, 2025 @ Julien Nouet/Tennis Majors
Madison Keys produced one of the finest performances of her career to knock out Iga Swiatek in a scintillating semi-final in Melbourne, defeating the world No 2 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (8) to reach her first Australian Open final.
It was a match of breathtaking quality from both players. But full plaudits must go to the extraordinary efforts from the American. No player had managed to take more than seven games off the world No 2 at Melbourne Park this year, with most struggling even to get that many as Swiatek sailed through the draw at her imperious, untouchable best.
That was until she ran into Keys, however. The current world No 14 disrupted Swiatek’s usually seamless rhythm with consistently deep, powerful and penetrating groundstrokes.
Most impressive, however, was Keys’ resilience as she fended off a match point on her opponent’s serve in the final set before coming out on top in a deciding match tiebreak throughout which she had trailed.
The result is a return to where Keys belongs – the final of a Grand Slam tournament, her second since the 2017 US Open and her first in Melbourne.
edgy start gives way to epic classic
It was a nervy and unsettled start to the contest as the pair traded two breaks each across the opening four games on an unseasonably cool evening in Melbourne.
Two holds either side of a third break of Keys’ serve then rapidly moved the world No 2 5-2 ahead. At break and set point down in the eighth game, the prospect of a dominant Swiatek sprinting away with the set – as she has done so relentlessly throughout this tournament – loomed large over Keys.
Yet the American showed great quality and mental fortitude to earn her first hold of the match before breaking Swiatek with some blistering returns as the Pole served for the opening set.
After another hold of serve each, however, Swiatek turned to screw on her opponent again to break in the twelfth game and clinch a tight opener.
superb keys finds best level to kickstart comeback
But big-hitting Keys responded in devastating fashion, breaking serve in the first, third and fifth games of the second set courtesy of some brilliant returning. Having also found her formidable first serve, the American raced into a deserved 5-0 lead as the Pole struggled to contain her opponent’s explosive game which was suddenly operating at maximum capacity.
Despite a late wobble as Swiatek clawed back one of those three breaks – and missing out on the chance to inflict a first bagel loss on the Pole since 2021 – Keys then broke for a fourth time in the set to level the scores at one set apiece against a flustered Swiatek.
In contrast to the opening two sets, the decider started in tight fashion – primarily dictated by the palpable tension of the situation.
A break point came and went for Keys in the fourth game, as another did for Swiatek in the fifth. The American had another two consecutive break-point opportunities in the eighth, before Swiatek could not convert four of her own in the next game.
Remarkably, the set remained on serve as the value of a hold ratcheted up with each game that passed.
But in the eleventh game, finally, Swiatek made the breakthrough. For her second straight service game, Keys found herself 0-40 down. The American came close to performing another extraordinary escape act, saving two of the three break points. But this time, Swiatek converted at the final opportunity, reading a drop shot from her opponent to place a forehand passing winner beyond Keys’ reach and earning what looked to be the fatal blow.
Keys, however, had other plans. In scenes of true sporting drama, the American fought back from 30-0 and a match point down to break her opponent back at the death as Swiatek delivered a desperately ill-timed double-fault on break point.
The resulting match tiebreak was as close as the contest itself, with supreme quality from both not allowing either player able to pull away from the other. Swiatek maintained a two-point lead until 7-5 when Keys won the next two to draw level for the first time since 1-1.
A strong serve then put the American in the lead for the first time at 9-8 before she completed a seismic win on her first match point as a forehand from Swiatek went long to move Keys into her first Australian Open final.
keys returns to grand slam final eight years on from her first
“I’m still trying to catch up to everything that is happening, I’m in the finals,” a shell-shocked and delighted Keys told Rod Laver Arena following the win.
“That match was such high level and she played so well and I just felt like I was fighting to stay in it.
“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 will leave Australia this year wondering how she did not at least reach the final of the season’s first Grand Slam having been so unstoppable for five rounds and then having today’s semi-final on her racquet at match point.
In truth, she simply came up against an opponent whose ball-striking, defence and serve were all operating at a supremely high level. When Keys is on her very best form, there are few in the sport that can live with her.
Swiatek came close today, but it was the American’s ability to elevate her game to even greater heights in the most pivotal moments that swung it her way.
The world No2 and five-time major champion will have her day in Melbourne, without a doubt. It is only a matter of time before she wins a first Australian Open title – as clearly evident in her form across this year’s event.
But today belongs to Madison Keys. A little over seven years since bursting onto the scene in New York with that stunning run to the US Open final as a 20-year-old, Keys has finally returned to a Grand Slam final.
She will face another mammoth task when she meets two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in Saturday’s final. “I’m really excited for the challenge and I don’t know, Saturday is very far ahead in my brain right now,” Keys added in her on-court interview.
But having taken out Elena Rybakina and Swiatek en route to the showpiece, Keys could be forgiven for thinking that not only can she topple the world No 1, but that maybe this year, a maiden Grand Slam title is written in the stars for her in Australia.
All eyes on the final now. It will have to be some spectacle to top what Rod Laver Arena witnessed today.
