Madison Keys held her nerve to defeat Iga Swiatek 5-7 6-1 7-6(10-8) to reach her maiden Australian Open final.
The in-form American is into her second Grand Slam final after edging out the world number two in one of the matches of the tournament.
Swiatek will reflect on what could have been as the Pole served for the match at 6-5 in the final set and lead throughout the final set tiebreak.
Now Keys will aim for her maiden Grand Slam title when she takes on world number one and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday.
In the opening set, the first four games went against the serve as both players unleashed fiery returns.
However Swiatek’s power and precision on the forehand caused problems for Keys as the Pole punished every short ball from the American to take a 5-2 lead.
The story of this match was that the momentum shifted from one player to the other and that’s what happened in the remainder of the set as Keys upped the aggression and came back to 5-5.
Some loose errors from Keys on the backhand side ultimately cost the American though as Swiatek broke to take the opening set.
The momentum was with Swiatek but was suddenly taken away from her as Keys’ consistent power ensured that she dominated the second set.
An increasingly frustrated Swiatek made a catalogue of untidy errors as she was broken on four occasions in the second set.
The score was level at one set all and now the tension could begin in an 80 minute long set that had everything.
Dramatic swings in momentum as both players dug deep from the back of the court with Swiatek saving break point in the fourth game before Keys did the same in the following game.
Towards the end of the final set it was Swiatek who produced the most pressure as she created three break points in the ninth game before the world number 14 rallied back to hold for 5-4, which was followed by a huge roar.
Eventually it was Swiatek who took advantage of some costly backhand errors from Keys as she broke and would serve for the match at 6-5.
A mixture of Swiatek’s level dipping and Keys’ level rising allowed the American to save match point and she broke immediately to force a final set tiebreak.
The tiebreak allowed Swiatek to dream as the world number two led throughout the majority of the tiebreak.
However Keys’ took away her dream and allowed her own American dream to prevail as she sealed the tiebreak 10-8 and booked her place in the final.
A first Australian Open final awaits for Keys as she takes on Sabalenka on Saturday with Sabalenka leading the head-to-head 4-1.