Trying to reach her first Australian Open final, Swiatek steadied the ship to come back, then won the next three matches to lead 5-2. Keys was doing damage with her returns, though, and she fought back again when Swiatek missed a forehand for 5-4.
Serving to stay in the set, Keys missed a rebound almost over the net but recovered well to hold for 5-5 only for Swiatek to then clear the errors, holding serve then breaking to win the set. fixed thanks to good feedback.
This could have been the catalyst for Swiatek’s withdrawal, but Keys had other ideas. Going wild on returns, she blasted winner after winner, breaking twice to lead 3-0 as Swiatek’s groundstrokes went awry.
Keys hit three straight aces in her next service game, broke Swiatek again for 5-0 and although the No. 2 seed avoided a 0-6 set by breaking, Keys maintained her aggression and was rewarded with another break to seal the set.
