January 20, 2025
Continuing her hot start to the season, No.19 seed Madison Keys of the United States moved into the Australian Open quarterfinals for the fourth time in her career by grinding out a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 victory over No.6 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan.
Obviously pretty good first set, and I think I finished the third set really well,” Keys said in press. “There are some things that I can take and learn from the middle of the match, but overall, really happy with how I was able to finish and close out that match.”
This was Keys’ first Top 10 win at a Grand Slam since she notched back-to-back victories over Jessica Pegula and Marketa Vondrousova to make the 2023 US Open semifinals.
Keys will next take on No.28 seed Elina Svitolina in a quarterfinal showdown. Svitolina came back from a double-break down in the first set to roll past Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 6-1 in Rod Laver Arena on Monday.
Meanwhile the former World No.3 Elina Svitolina continued to rack up strong Grand Slam results. She is into her 12th career Grand Slam quarterfinal, and her first quarterfinal at the Australian Open since 2019.
Elsewhere, No.8 seed Emma Navarro held off No.9 seed Daria Kasatkina 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 in the Australian Open Round of 16 to book a spot in her third consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal.
For the second consecutive Slam, Navarro will have to get past a Top 5 player and tournament favorite to make the semifinals. She succeeded at the US Open, where she knocked out defending champion Coco Gauff in the Round of 16. In Melbourne, she’ll take on former No.1 Iga Swiatek, who has looked imperious through her four matches, dropping just 11 games.
It will be their first match at any level in nearly seven years, with Swiatek winning their sole meeting on the green clay in 2018. It was a markedly different time in both their careers. Swiatek was ranked outside the Top 400, Navarro was ranked outside the Top 1000, and the Pole won 6-0, 6-2 at an ITF 80K in Charleston, South Carolina.
© Copyrights Sixsports. All Rights Reserved.