Madison Keys stuns Iga Swiatek to reach Australian Open final in epic comeback

In an enthralling contest inside the Rod Laver Arena, the 19th seed rallied from a set down to defeat second seed Swiatek 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(8).

Swiatek broke late on to take the first set, only for Keys to dominate the second set and force a decider.

A nervy end to the third set saw the world No 2 break and serve for the match â- and hold a match point â- only to double fault on break point down and set up a deciding 10-point tiebreak.

Keys was repeatedly down in the tiebreaker, though turned things around and converted her first match point to seal an epic comeback.

"I'm still trying to catch up to everything that's happening," joked Keys in her on-court interview. "I'm in the finals!

"That match was just such a high level and she played so well, and I felt like I was just fighting to stay in it. Obviously, I really kind of ran [away] with the second set, and the third was just a battle.

"To be able to be standing here and in the finals is absolutely amazing and I'm so excited that I get to be here on Saturday."

Aged 29, Keys is now the oldest Australian Open women's singles finalist since Serena Williams (35) and Venus Williams (36) both reached the final back in 2017.

Keys has also matched Caroline Wozniacki for the most Australian Open appearances before reaching the women's singles final, with this being her 11th campaign Down Under.

Having reached her first Grand Slam final at the US Open in 2017, the American has also eclipsed Amelie Mauresmo's record for the longest gap between first and second major singles finals.

Mauresmo had a seven-year gap between her 1999 Australian Open and 2006 Australian Open finals, a gap the American has now narrowly beaten.

World No 14 Keys will now face world No 1 and top seed Aryna Sabalenka in Saturday's final.

Sabalenka is the two-time defending champion in Melbourne and is looking to become the first woman since Martina Hingis in 1999 to win three straight titles.

Keys is 1-4 down in her head-to-head against Sabalenka and has lost her last three meetings against the Belarusian, including a heartbreaking 0-6, 7-6(1), 7-6(5) defeat in the 2023 US Open semi-final.

"Definitely some big hitting is going to happen, not a whole lot of long points", said Keys on facing the world No 1.

"She's obviously going for her third Aussie Open and I'm excited to get to play her, and I'm really excited for the challenge."

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