Iga Swiatek says Madison Keys 'deserves' to be in Australian Open SF in glowing tribute to American ahead of clash

Iga Swiatek and Madison Keys came through contrasting wins to set up a showdown in the Australian Open semifinals. It will be the sixth meeting between the two.

Previewing the contest, Swiatek said she plans to use the remainder of Wednesday and early Thursday to prepare for the contest keeping her opponent’s strengths in mind:

"Well, last part of the question, you know, I'll prepare today and tomorrow, you know, I wasn't really looking forward before, so, now that I know my opponent, you know, will put in the work with them and prepare the tactics.

But obviously, you know, [Madison Keys] likes to also play intense and pretty fast, you know, and she's using her power, especially on a faster, hard court, so, I need to be ready for that."

Swiatek added:

"[I need to] be proactive and also good in defense, you know, I guess in semis, if you play against any opponent, they deserve to be there. So it's gonna be tough, no matter what, no matter who is on the other side of the net."

While Swiatek will play in her second Australian Open semifinal on Thursday, Keys will make her third appearance in the last four Down Under. The Pole made the semifinals in 2022, with wins over Kaia Kanepi, Daria Kasatkina, and Sorana Cirstea. She went down against Danielle Collins.

Keys, meanwhile, returns to the semifinal stage after having made the same result in 2015 and 2022. She had lost the 2015 encounter to Serena Williams and again came up short against Ashleigh Barty in 2022. Both Williams and Barty went on to lift the trophy.

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Iga Swiatek and Madison Keys score contrasting wins to set up Australian Open showdown

Madison Keys after beating Elina Svitolina at the 2025 Australian Open. (Source: Getty)

Iga Swiatek and Madison Keys beat Emma Navarro and Elina Svitolina to book their spots in the Australian Open semifinals. The wins, however, were contrasting.

Swiatek was at her usual clinical best, breaking her opponents on five occasions and fending off the only breakpoint she faced. She dropped only three games en route to the 6-1, 6-2 win over the eighth seed.

Keys, meanwhile, was made to work much harder by 28th seed Svitolina, who started the match strong by taking the opening set 6-3. The American, however, stepped up her game, hitting her way past the Ukrainian 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.