Quad Cities’ Madison Keys Advances To Australian Open Final

This morning, Rock Island's Madison Keys defeated Iga Swiatek in the Women's Singles Semifinals to advance on to her second career Grand Slam final.

The match took place Thursday morning (just after midnight in Melbourne), with Keys coming from a set down to force a tiebreaker, with both players exhausted from the over 2-and-a-half-hour match.

“Best tennis I’ve ever seen Madison Keys play, so very happy for her,” ESPN’s Mary Joe Fernandez said on air. “She burst through here 10 years ago as a 19-year-old and you see the emotions and the tears...She deserved this one.”

Madison Keys will take on two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday at 2am CST to determine the winner of the Australian Open.

Sabalenka is in her third consecutive year making the final, with the past two years finding the championship. In their recent matchups, Keys is 1-4 against Sabalenka in previous matchups. Their last matchup was 2023 in the U.S. Open.

Coming into the Semifinal, Keys was ranked 19, and Swiatek was ranked 2.