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Keys continued her strong start to the season on Rod Laver Arena
as she toppled the French Open champion 6-3 6-2 under the
Melbourne sun to return to the semi-finals in Australia for only
the second time.
The 26-year-old, who won only 11 matches in a dismal 2021
season, is on a 10-match winning streak this year and won the
Adelaide International 2 warm-up tournament earlier this month.
"It's been kind of nice to be the underdog for the first time in
a long time," said the American, who will take on world number
one Ash Barty or compatriot Jessica Pegula for a place in the
final.
"I honestly feel pretty neutral ... I have gone into every match
thinking I can absolutely win any match that I'm out on the
court."
Keys previously made the semi-finals in Melbourne as a
19-year-old in 2015, where she lost to eventual winner and
23-time major champion Serena Williams.
"I'm a little bit more prepared this time around than I was all
those years ago," Keys said. "I would say it mostly feels
different because I'm seven years older and it's not my first
semi-final of a Slam.
"I think you take the experience out of it, I know I'm going to
feel nervous, I know I'm going to be excited.
"But it's also a completely different situation, time and
person, all of that. I think you take the experience that you
have from those moments and you try to apply it, but you also
know that it's going to be a completely different challenge."
(Reporting by Hritika Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Karishma
Singh)
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