TENNIS – DEFENDING champion Aryna Sabalenka and Madison Keys made rocky starts yesterday but eventually secured contrasting victories to set up a heavy metal Australian Open final showdown that will pit two of the game’s big hitters against each other.
Belarusian top seed Sabalenka overwhelmed her best friend Paula Badosa 6-4 6-2 in an impressive display of sheer power to storm into her third straight title clash at the year’s opening Grand Slam, where she will bid for her fourth major title.
Keys rallied from a set down and saved a match point to stun Swiatek 5-7 6-1 7-6(8) in a thriller, making her first final at the Australian Open and second at the majors after a run to the 2017 US Open title clash ended in a loss to Sloane Stephens.
Five-times Grand Slam champion Swiatek was under immediate pressure when Keys took the opener and looked to consolidate the break.
Roared on by an army of Polish fans at Rod Laver Arena, Swiatek switched into battle mode and pulled it back and the pair swapped breaks once again before the second seed took control of the opening set at 4-2.
After rain prompted the closure of the roof, Keys came out swinging to close the gap and shrugged off a shocking mistake on an overhead smash at the net before drawing level at 5-5 but was unable to stop Swiatek from reeling off the next two games.
Keys continued to heap the pressure on with heavy ball-striking and impeccable serving to race ahead 5-0 in the next set before Swiatek avoided the embarrassment of a bagel.
Keys drew level at one set apiece with her seventh break in the match and made a solid start to the deciding set, hitting a backhand rocket to hold for 4-3, before rescuing four break points to go 5-4 up. Swiatek responded and squandered a match point at 6-5 before taking the lead in the tiebreak but Keys battled back and sealed victory when the Pole hit a shot long.
Sabalenka trailed Badosa 2-0 in the opening set with a flurry of unforced errors, but she soon found her mark and put her dependable forehand to work to end the 11th seed’s run in the Spaniard’s first major semi-final.
After taking the surprise early lead, Badosa was constantly under siege on serve.
She hung tough to save a slew of break points but it felt like only a matter of time before Sabalenka crashed through her defences, which she duly did by breaking Badosa in the third and fifth games before holding firm to take the first set.
Badosa tried to conjure the fighting spirit that saw her beat Coco Gauff in the quarter-finals in one of the shocks of the event, but Sabalenka’s pressure wore her down and she hit a double fault to drop serve in the third game of the second set.
World number one Sabalenka rode the momentum to a 5-1 lead before sealing the match with a forehand down the line.
&uuid=(email))