Keys Comes From Behind To Earn Australian Open Semifinal Berth

Madison Keys
Madison Keys (photo: Australian Open TV/YouTube)

MELBOURNE/WASHINGTON, January 22, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

Madison Keys managed to hold her nerve when it mattered the most and now she’s through to her third career Australian Open semifinal and seventh major semifinal overall.

On Wednesday afternoon, inside an unseasonably cool (21º Celsius/70º Fahrenheit) – and windy – Rod Laver Arena, the 19th-seeded American rallied from a set down to defeat No. 28 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, in an hour and 53 minutes to move into the last four at Melbourne.

The 29-year-old Keys, ranked No. 14, has strung together 10 straight wins to begin her 2025 campaign, which began with her winning her ninth career title at the WTA 250-series Adelaide International, a tune-up for Melbourne. In their first meeting in three years, Keys now leads the head-to-head with the former World No. 3 4-to-2. Svitolina was appearing in her first tournament since last year’s US Open.

It was the third straight win for Keys over a seeded player in Melbourne. Previously, she knocked off No. 10 seed Danielle Collins in the third round, then followed it up by eliminating No. 6 seed Elena Rybakina in the round of 16.

Against Svitolina, Keys hit 49 winners – including six aces – to overcome 41 unforced errors, converted two of nine break points and outpointed her opponent 90-89. Svitolina countered with 20 winners and 15 unforced errors. Throughout the final two sets, Keys raised her level of physicality – and it paid off.

Asked during her on-court interview how she turned the match around after the first set, Key replied: “I started to play a little bit more aggressive, tried to get to the net a little bit quicker. She was controlling a lot of the points and making me run. I felt I needed to get on the advantage a little bit quicker. Luckily, I was able to do that.”

Now, back in the AO semifinals for the first time since 2022, Keys will face No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek of Poland, who beat No. 8 seed Emma Navarro of the United States 6-1, 6-2.

Ivanisevic steps down as Rybakina coach

Goran Ivanisevic‘s brief coaching trial with World No. 7 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan is over.

“After our trial period that ended with Australian Open, I wish Elena and her team the best of luck moving forward,” Ivanisevic wrote on his Instagram story Tuesday, a day after Rybakina lost her fourth-round match to World No. 14 Madison Keys of the United States, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.

Ivanisevic coached Rybakina through two WTA Tour-level events together – the United Cup and the Australian Open – and confirmed that his test phase coaching her had ended.

The former Wimbledon champion and member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame stepped into the role of coaching Rybakina after a highly-successful run coaching Novak Djokovic that began in 2019 and ended last March.

Ivanisevic previously coached Marin Cilic, Tomas Berdych and Milos Raonic before beginning his stint with Djokovic, during which he helped guide the Serbian great to nine Grand Slam singles titles.

Given what happened in the lead up to the AO, in which Rybakina revealed earlier this month that she was bring back her former coach, Stefan Vukov as a team member – which caught Ivanisevic off-guard – it wasn’t surprising that the Croatian would cut his ties with Rybakina.

While Vukov traveled to Australia, the WTA provisional suspended him and refused to issue him a coaching credential amid an ongoing investigation for breaching the WTA’s Code of Conduct. Just before the 2024 US Open last August, Vukov and Rybakina parted ways.

Under Ivanisevic’s brief mentorship, Rybakina compiled a 6-2 record.

Around the Australian Open

• Unseeded Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider of Russia, both ranked in the Top 20 in singles, rolled to a 67-minute 6-3, 6-0 win over Kamilla Rakhimova of Russia and Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain to advance to the women’s doubles semifinal round. Andreeva and Shnaider combined to hit 14 winners and they converted five of 13 break points.

Recent champions at Brisbane and Olympic silver medalists last summer Paris, Andreeva and Shnaider have won eight straight matches. Each of their four wins in Melbourne have come in straight sets.

Next, they will face No. 1 seeds Katerina Siniakova of Czechia and Taylor Townsend of the United States, who defeated No. 9 seeds Kristina Mladenovic of France and Zhang Shuai of China, 6-1, 7-5, in 70 minutes on Kia Arena. Siniakova and Townsend won 52 percent of their receiving points and outpointed their opponents 62-43.

• No. 6 seeds Harri Heliovaara of Finland and Henry Patten of Great Britain advanced to the men’s doubles semifinal after defeating No. 15 seeds Hugo Nys of Monaco and Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France, 6-3, 7-5, in an hour and 35 minutes on Margaret Court Arena. Heliovaara and Patten combined to hit 20 winners and converted four of eight break points.

Next, Heliovaara and Patten will play either No. 4 seeds Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz of Germany or No. 11 seeds Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool of Great Britain, who played later Wednesday.

Wednesday’s Australian Open results

Thursday’s Australian Open order of play

By the numbers

Coming into their 10th career head-to-head meeting, Jannik Sinner and Alex de Minaur – their ninth on a hard court and second at a major – Sinner won their only previous Grand Slam meeting in the round of 16 at Melbourne in 2022. He has dropped just one set in their first nine matches, all won by Sinner.

“Quotable …”

“Two of the best players that probably ever touched a tennis racquet. Novak is the greatest of all time right now. Carlos is going to be one of them when he hangs it up, so it’s a clash of generations. They have played Grand Slam finals before. They played the Olympic final last year, so it’s a privilege to witness it here in Australia. I think it’s going to be a great match.”

– World No. 2 Alexander Zverev of Germany, during his on-court interview after defeating No. 12 seed Tommy Paul of the United States on Tuesday afternoon. Zverev was commenting on the Carlos Alcaraz-Novak Djokovic quarterfinal match that Djokovic won Tuesday evening.

 

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