A revived Madison Keys reached her first Australian Open semifinal since 2015 with an unlikely win against the Roland Garros champion Barbora Krejcikova on Tuesday at Rod Laver Arena.
The American who was unseeded was turning out to be a difficult opponent for the Czech international who is the fourth seed. She was struggling in scorching Melbourne heat at Rod Laver Arena losing the match (3-6,2-6).
The match was very much exhausting as both the players used ice towels to cool down as the temperature was 33C at the Rod Laver Arena.
The Czech took a medical timeout in the first set due to heat stress as the temperature was very high which she was trailing 5-2 and then looked very dull in the second set which lasted for 35 minutes and lost it 6-2.
Keys said after the match she did everything possible in the offseason to make sure she is fresh and focused on the new year starting from zero and not focusing on the performances of the last year. And it has turned out to be a very good start for the American international as she has won 11 matches this year with a winning streak of 10 matches which is equal to her previous year’s tally of 11 matches.
In the semifinals, Keys will play the number one seed Ashleigh Barty or her countrymate Jessica Pegula. The match between Barty and Pegula will take place at Rod Laver Arena.
