Source : ABC NEWS
Madison Keys made her first ever grand slam semifinal at the Australian Open.
That was in 2015. A decade later, the 29-year-old is vying to get there again.
She’s just one step away, after making the quarterfinals with a momentum-shifting three-set victory over Elena Rybakina.
“It’s hard to believe that it was 10 years ago that I made my first semifinal,” Keys said.
“To still be out here and playing some good tennis all these years later, I’m really happy.”
Back in 2015, a teenage Keys defeated Venus Williams in the quarterfinals, only to lose to Serena Williams in the semis.
“I don’t know if when I started I thought I’d be almost 30 and still playing at the level that I’m playing, and arguably playing maybe even better than I have ever really played,” she said.
Tennis is often seen as a sport of teen phenoms, and last week defending champion and world number one Aryna Sabalenka, 27, spoke of how many in the sport considered retirement at 30.
Madison Keys, 29, says the young players have many years ahead of them. (Getty Images: Cameron Spencer)
“It’s something that I’m definitely not taking for granted and kind of just trying to roll with, and you know, just show some of these young ones that they’ve got many, many, many years left.”
Rybakina, the sixth seed, won Wimbledon in 2021 and was runner up at the Australian Open in 2023.
She was a favourite to reach the semifinals here until Keys defeated her 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.
Keys, the 19th seed, came out firing to take the first set. But she had a wobble in the second set, where Rybakina was able to find her way back into the match.
Rybakina was hampered by a back injury in her third round, and said although she had undergone recovery yesterday, she was feeling pain again after today’s game.
Keys said she’s working on being more aggressive.
“I found that in the second set I got a little bit nervous, and I felt like I got a little bit passive … I just kind of kept giving her opportunities to start attacking me instead of me being the one that was kind of dictating the point.”
Keys wanted to start the third set on a good note, and she did, going up a break early.
Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina exited the Australian Open after her fourth-round loss to Madison Keys. (Getty Images: Cameron Spencer)
Rybakina levelled the score at 3-3, at which point Keys regrouped again, taking advantage of her opportunities to seize the match.
“I did a good job at kind of reminding myself that I’d already won the first set, and I had time,” Keys said.
“So I didn’t have to panic, and it’s not like the match was going to be over if I lost the second set,” Keys said.
For her, consistency is key.
“I have had great years and tough years, but for the most part, I think I have had pretty consistent years,” she said.
Madison Keys says finding a routine when you’re on tour and never at home helped her stay clear-headed. (Getty Images: Quinn Rooney)
“It’s hard to basically live in a hotel all of the time, and I think that’s almost the hardest part of the sport, along with having to go out and compete every single day.
“So I think just trying to have some sort of routine everywhere to make it feel a little bit homier and have something to come back to while you’re never home, I think, has probably been the thing that I have been able to do fairly well.”
Next rival is ‘not vintage Svitolina’
If Keys is trying to work more aggression into her game, so is her next opponent, Elina Svitolina.
The Ukrainian dismantled Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1, after coming back from a set down to 4th seed Jasmine Paolini in the previous round.
Svitolina’s game has become more aggressive since some major life changes, notably having a baby in 2022 and the Russian invasion of her home country.
Elina Svitolina is through to the quarterfinals. (Getty Images: Quinn Rooney)
And her rivals, including Keys, are taking note.
“I think it’s kind of the evolution of all of us as we’re getting older and trying to make some changes, and if you’re not having the success, then maybe you should adapt,” Keys said when asked about her next opponent.
“Honestly, I was so impressed. She was really going for it and really going after her shots … I definitely think it’s not going to be, like, the typical match-up that we have had in the past.
“It was not vintage Svitolina playing.”
Svitolina has refused to shake hands with Russian opponents and has a 7-0 win streak against Russian players since the war began.
Svitolina said although she doesn’t change her routine before those matches, she spoke about the Ukrainian “fighting spirit”.
“It’s just I feel the spirit is different. I’m really, really putting everything out there,” she said.
“If I’m not going to win, but I’m going to almost die on the court. I’m not going to let her win that easy. So I feel like this fighting spirit is really pulling me through these matches.
“It’s just the associations that me personally I have with this country. It’s very painful and very tough on my heart. So, of course, I have an extra motivation for this.”
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Svitolina was left devastated at last year’s Australian Open as she was forced to retire hurt in the fourth round, ending her match against Linda Noskova just three games in due to a back injury.
She cut her season short last year to undergo foot surgery in September.
“When you are a top athlete, you are worried little bit if you can come back to the top level, if you can actually move after,” Svitolina said.
“Now I have two screws in my ankle. It sounds scary. Yeah, of course, you have doubts.”
Keys also made the semifinals here in 2022 and was a US Open finalist in 2017, losing to Sloane Stephens.
