Madison Keys has powered her way into the US Open semi-finals for the second time in a row. She has now set up an enthralling semi-final encounter against 20-year-old Naomi Osaka at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Keys has only lost one set on way to semi-finals
Keys will have the home support in the match but Osaka has played some great tennis in the tournament so far and could provide a huge test for Keys. Last year Keys was disappointed to lose to Sloane Stephens in straight sets – 6-3, 6-0 but this year she looks like she really means business. She has only lost one set in the tournament so far to Krunic.
Dropped in rankings to 14th
Keys started 2018 off well in terms of climbing the rankings to reach no. 10 but has fallen down into 14th in the last few months. She will be looking to go the full way in the US Open to give her rankings a boost. It took her just 83 minutes to sweep Carla Suarez Navarro aside 6-4, 6-3 to progress to the semi-finals.
She recently spoke about how she has struggled to handle her emotions when she reaches the later stages of a tournament but feels like she has made some changes with this: “I think I’ve gotten a lot better managing my emotions once it gets to this part and knowing that everything is going to be probably more amped up, and not shying away from those but just really being honest about it and talking about it.”
In her career, Keys has won 3 titles and her US Open final loss last year was the closest she has been to a Grand Slam win. You get the feeling that it is not about if she will win a Grand Slam but closer to when she will a Grand Slam. The answer could be – this week!
Head to head: Keys vs Osaka
They have met on three previous occasions, with Keys winning all three matches. Keys will have taken confidence from the fact that she beat Osaka at the Roland Garros this year.