Sabalenka will aim for a third consecutive Australian Open title against Keys, who eliminated Swiatek in a three-set epic.
Madison Keys fought back from a set down in a high-intensity tennis match to shock Iga Swiatek and reach her first Australian Open final, where she will face two-time defending champion Arya Sabalenko.
The 19th seed cruised through a thrilling last-set tiebreak semi-final against the world number two 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (10-8) after Sabalenka beat Paula Badosa in straight sets earlier on Thursday.
The 29-year-old Keys, who was runner-up at the 2017 US Open, won more games against Swiatek than the five-time major champion had lost in her five previous matches at Melbourne Park combined over the past fortnight.
The American was on the brink of defeat earlier, when Swiatek served for the match at 6-5 in the third set and was a point away from ending it at 40-30. Swiatek hit a backhand into the net there and eventually won a break with double faults, sending the match into the final game first to 10, win-two.
“I’m still trying to keep up with everything that’s going on. I’m in the finals. Woo-hoo,” said No. 19 seed Keys after the biggest win of her career.
“That game was at such a high level… I felt like I was fighting to stay in it… To be able to stand here in the final is absolutely amazing and I’m delighted to be here on Saturday.
“I think in the end we were both fighting nerves and really pushing each other. It was about who can get that last point and be a little bit better than the other one and I’m happy that it was me.”
Sabalenka vs. Badosa produced by ‘PlayStation tennis’
Sabalenka, who won the Australian Open the last two years, can become the first woman since 1999 to finish the race.
The Belarus top seed defeated her best friend Badosa 6-4 6-2 in an impressive display of raw power to storm into her third straight title clash at this year’s Grand Slam, where she will bid for her fourth major title.
Sabalenka wasn’t perfect either and trailed Bados 2-0 in the first set with a flurry of unforced errors, but she soon found her mark and put her trusty forehand to work to end the 11th seed’s run in the Spaniard’s first major semi-final.
“I got chills. I’m so proud of myself and my team for putting ourselves in this situation,” Sabalenka said as she set her sights on a three-peat in Melbourne for the first time since Martina Hingis in 1997-99.
“If I put my name in history, it will mean everything in the world to me, I couldn’t even dream of it… I will go out and do my best in the final,” she added.
Badosa tried to evoke the fighting spirit that saw her eliminate Coco Gauff in the quarter-finals in one of the shocks of the tournament, but Sabalenka’s pressure wore her down.
“If she plays like this,” Badosa said of Sabalenka, “I think we can already give her the trophy.”
Badosa went on to joke that the defending champions had produced “PlayStation tennis”.
“She’s more like a winner everywhere with Arya,” Badosa told reporters after suffering her sixth loss in eight matches against her friend.
“Sometimes you’re like, I don’t know, I’m just walking around the court because I feel like she’s playing PlayStation.
“She was like that today. Sometimes I wonder, ‘What’s going on?’ I don’t even have time to think.”
The two are good friends off the field, but it may take some time before the Spaniard gets over the loss and reconnects with her Belarusian friend.
“She’ll probably hate me for a day or two, and then we can be friends and go shopping again. I promise we will do it and I will pay whatever she wants,” said the top seed.
The last woman to reach three finals in a row at the first Grand Slam of the year was Serena Williams, who won two from 2015 to 2017.
Martina Hingis was the last woman to threepeat, doing it from 1997 to 1999.
