Finding the Keys to success after years of staying afloat

Keys has been a constant among US players over the past few years, but only now she is truly discovering herself

- Rutvick Mehta

MUMBAI: A few times through her professional career that began in 2009, a thought—more a question, really—would leave Madison Keys feeling a bit paralyzed on court: "If it didn't happen right now, would it ever happen?"

Moments after the 2023 US Open semi-final where she was up 6-0, 5-3 before a sensational turnaround by Aryna Sabalenka, Keys broke down and wept in her press conference. Perhaps that thought seeped in again for a player now in her late twenties: would it ever happen again?

It has, at this Australian Open. A full decade after it first did. The American is back in the semi-final at Melbourne Park, rallying to defeat Ukraine's Elina Svitolina 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Her 2015 quarter-final victory also happened to be a three-setter, against Venus Williams. She takes on a red-hot Iga Swiatek now. She ran into a red-hot Serena Williams then.

A couple of generations of American women have swept world tennis, and Keys, 29, has been a constant. She stood witness to Venus and Serena kissing greatness. She stands witness to Coco Gauff rising from teen sensation to Grand Slam champion.