In last year’s U.S. Open final, Madison Keys couldn’t sprint, or bend properly, or swing her racket without feeling pain. Her upper leg injury slowed her and frustrated her, and eventually left her in tears after a 6-3, 6-0 defeat against Sloane Stephens. Keys says the sadness lasted a while, for the obvious reason: When you come oh-so-close to winning your first Grand Slam title and crumble, nothing feels worse in tennis.
“To have such a great two weeks and then have it end the way that it did, it was really devastating for me,” Keys said. “It definitely took some time to get over.”
That time is up. Clearly, Keys is fresh now—and healthy, too. She’s playing without bandages, playing with loose and quick movement, and seemingly running around with no pain. Now comes her hardest task of the tournament, a quarterfinal match against Angelique Kerber, the former #1 and a winner of two Grand Slam titles.
It’s a classic matchup of opposite techniques. Keys serves as well as any woman in the game, and hits big. At her best, she ends many of her points with clean winners or shots that bounce off her opponent’s racket. If she’s on and relaxed, it’s hard to stop her from hitting winners—you just have contain her as much as possible.
Kerber, a lefty, can hit winners, too, but many of them are on the run, and from spots that seem impossible to hit from—impossible, that is, if you can’t anticipate and move as well as Kerber. Balls that look like winners often aren’t against Kerber. She’s a counter-puncher and that frustrates opponents to no end. And once her opponents make a few mistakes, they tend to lose confidence and make more. Keys said patience and positive thinking will be essential.
“I’m going to have to be the aggressive one and take time away, but also be really smart,” Keys said. “So like I was saying earlier, hopefully I continue to play smart, and that’s pretty much all I can really do.”
Keys has played in the Australian Open semifinals before, back in 2015. That year she lost to the eventual champion, Serena Williams. With Williams absent this year, there’s a better chance for a title for everyone left. In tennis, that can be a blessing—better chances—or a curse—more nerves. The best part about Keys so far is she hasn’t looked the least bit tense on court. If she can continue to hit this freely, she’ll play her best tennis and have no regrets. (It’s worth nothing that Keys kept saying as much when asked about Kerber.)
“For me it’s having to play aggressive but also consistently aggressive, because I know she’s going to make three more balls than other girls may be able to get to,” Keys said.
Kerber had looked free out there, too, until she came up against the master of offbeat shots, Hsieh Su-wei. The match was Kerber’s toughest in the tournament so far, and for a while she looked like she wanted to smash her racket to pieces (she swung it out of frustration a few times). But that three-set victory will, more than likely, make her even looser from here on out. She says the most important thing about this year is her attitude, which isn’t as critical as it was last year.
“Last year was different. A lot of expectation and everything around,” Kerber said. “Let’s not talk about last year. This year our goal was really from the first match to fight for every point and also try to [be] improving my game in every single match and just looking forward, not looking back again.”
The winner of this match would next meet either Simona Halep, the #1 seed, or Karolina Pliskova, seeded #6, in the semifinals. Halep has made it this deep, despite an injury to her ankle and a near loss to Lauren Davis, who pushed Halep all the way to a 15-13 third set.
Of all these women, only Kerber has won a Grand Slam title.
