Madison Keys upsets the fourth-seeded Barbora Krejcikova to qualify for the semi-finals of the Australian Open. The 26-year-old American won the match with 2-0 (6:3, 6:2) for 85 minutes, without giving a chance for the 2021 French Open / Roland Garros champion.
Madison Keys made 11 aces, 27 winners, and won 77% of 1st serve points. On the other hand, the Czech player made 4 double faults and 28 unforced errors.
The first set started equally and both players won their serving games but very hard giving breakpoints to their opponent. The fifth game, at Madison Keys serve, was the longest in the match. The American gave 4 breakpoints to her opponent and missed several points for closing it, but in the end, she succeeded. This was the cornerstone of the first set. Barbora Krejcikova served in the sixth game and gave two breakpoints for Madison Keys. However, she succeeded to save them, but after another long game, finally, the American won and took a lead with 4:2. By the end of the set, both players won their serve games, which was enough for Madison Keys to win by 6:3.
In the second set, the American player had total dominance. She started with two breaks and took a lead of 3:0. However, she made a mistake in the fourth game and gave a chance for Barbora Krejcikova to return one of the breaks. This was not enough and the good service of Madison Keys helped to keep the advantage in the result. In the seventh game, Madison Keys made another break and touched the win. The set was closed at her service with 6:2.
Madison Keys qualified for the semi-finals of the Australian Open 2022, where she will face the winner between top-seeded Ashleigh Barty and Jessica Pegula.
“I think I’m going to cry”, said Madison Keys during her on-court interview. “Last year was really hard and I did everything I could with my team to reset this off-season and focus on starting fresh and new and just starting from zero and not worrying about last year. That’s gone well so far. I’m really proud of myself and so thankful to my team, friends, and family for helping me through what was a really tough year last year”, added she.
Madison Keys is WTA No 51, but she has been ranked as high as world No 7, which she first achieved in October 2016. In the Grand Slam, she had reached the semi-finals of the 2015 Australian Open and 2018 French Open / Roland Garros. She is also the runner-up from the 2017 US Open.
