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KEYS NAMES TWO MISTAKES SHE WON'T MAKE AGAIN AGAINST SABALENKA



Eight years between drinks, Madison Keys returns to a Grand Slam final after contributing to the match of the tournament at the Australian Open in her rollercoaster semi-final.


Keys fought back from a one-set deficit and fended off a match point to defeat world No.2 Iga Świątek 5-7 6-1 7-6(8) in what will go down as an all-time classic.



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However, injuries have plagued her career, including a hamstring tear forcing her to withdraw from her Wimbledon fourth-round match and a late decision to pull out of the Australian Open, both occurring last year.


Tonight, the American will try to rectify a crushing semi-final exit at the 2023 US Open against Aryna Sabalenka as they seek Australian Open glory.


In that semi-final, Keys' 6-0 first-set drubbing wasn't enough, dropping the following two sets in tiebreaks to end her dream in New York.


Reflecting on that defeat when posed the question during her semi-final post-match press conference, Keys will attempt to change her approach.


"I think one of the big things after I lost to Aryna at the US Open, I felt like I tried to play safe, and I wasn't playing how I wanted to in the big moments. That felt so bad," she shared.


"I just felt like if I can go out and do what I want to do and really just, again, be uncomfortable at times and just actually go for it and continue to play the way I play my best tennis, and I lose, then I can walk away and say, 'Okay, I did my best, she beat me, that's fine'.


"I didn't want to be in the same situation where I kind of looked back at it and thought, 'Man, I should have gone for it'. I didn't want to have any regrets for not really laying it all out there."


The positive for Keys is that she's found herself in this position before.


Walking out in front of a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium for an all-American US Open final in 2017, Sloane Stephens convincingly toppled Keys 6-3 6-0.


Admittedly, the pressure and nerves were too great to handle, but Keys will use that experience to ensure she enjoys the occasion on Rod Laver Arena.


"During that match, I was so consumed with being nervous and the moment and the opportunity and all of that, that I never really gave myself a chance to actually play.


"I think that I've done a lot of work trying to not get rid of nerves because I think in the past in my head it was kind of always the people who play amazing in the tight moments, they either don't have nerves or they figure out how to get rid of them, instead of being able to play tennis with them.


"The big thing for me has just been knowing that there are going to be a lot of moments where I'm uncomfortable in the match. It's going to be stressful. You have thousands of people watching you. You might not be playing your best tennis.


"But instead of trying to shy away from that and search for settling or comfort or anything, just being okay that that's the situation, and you can also play tennis through that, I think is something that I've been working really hard on.


"I think that's probably one of the biggest lessons that I can take from that US Open final and just be okay with knowing that I'm probably going to be uncomfortable 99 per cent of the time that I'm on the court, and that's okay, and I can still also play tennis through that."


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