MELBOURNE, Australia — Madison Keys is back into the Australian Open semifinals for a third time after her 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win Wednesday over Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.
The 29-year-old Keys is on a 10-match winning streak after warming up for the year’s first major with a title at Adelaide, where she beat fellow American Jessica Pegula in the final.
Her run to the semifinals at Melbourne Park has included victories over two former Australian Open finalists — Danielle Collins and Elina Rybakina — in the third and fourth rounds.
Keys, the 2017 U.S. Open runner-up, next faces five-time Grand Slam singles champion Iga Swiatek, who scored a 6-1, 6-2 win, in her quarterfinal match against No. 8 seed Emma Navarro
This is Keys’ 11th trip to the Australian Open, where her best performances have resulted in semifinal losses to the eventual champion: against Serena Williams in 2015 and to Australia’s Ash Barty in 2022.
“I think I play a little bit smarter for sure … probably a little bit less fearless,” Keys said of the differences in her game over a decade. “But to be here 10 years later in the semifinals again, I’m really proud of myself and really excited to play another.”
Svitolina was in control during the first set and took a lot of adjustments from Keys to turn the momentum of the match. Keys started advancing to the net faster and more frequently, cut down her errors and found her range and more speed with her booming forehand and serve.
She won 23 of the 26 points she played at the net and hit 49 winners, including 23 on the forehand side.
It wasn’t until the sixth game of the second set that she converted a break-point chance, her seventh, to go ahead 4-2. From then, momentum was mostly with the American.
The No. 19-seeded Keys broke in the fifth game of the third set and held her nerve to close it out in just under two hours.
Svitolina, a 30-year-old from Ukraine, was playing her third quarterfinal in Australia, and first since losing to eventual champion Naomi Osaka in 2019.
The former world No. 3 has still never gone past the last eight at Melbourne Park, with her runs to the semifinals at Wimbledon in 2023 and 2019 and the U.S. Open in 2019 remaining her major highlights.
As for he No. 2-seeded Swiatek, she not only has not dropped a set so far in the tournament, but also has lost a grand total of only 14 games as she seeks her first title at Melbourne Park and sixth Grand Slam trophy overall.
The last woman to make it to the Australian Open semifinals having ceded fewer than 15 games was Maria Sharapova back in 2013.
“I’m really happy with the tournament overall,” said Swiatek, who will face No. 19 Madison Keys of the U.S. on Thursday night for a berth in the final. “Being in the semis is great. I’ll push for more.”
Swiatek benefited from what appeared to be a missed double-bounce on a point she won in the second set, but Navarro did not immediately ask for a video review. Either way, Swiatek’s dominance was pretty clear, even if she was modest about things afterward.
“Well, I think it was much more tougher than the score says,” said Swiatek, a 23-year-old from Poland. “Emma’s a fighter … and I wanted to stay focused and keep my intensity.”