Madison Keys is happy to get the ‘drama’ out of the way after overcoming Diana Shnaider in three tiebreaks in Brisbane.
The defending Australian Open champion is into the quarter-finals in Australia but not without some ‘drama.’
A three hour contest was produced against Diana Shnaider which saw Keys lost the first set tiebreak 7-5.
However, when needed to Keys produced the goods winning the next two tiebreaks 7-5 to seal a big win.
It is the first time in Keys’ career that she has won a match that went to three tiebreaks and it’s safe to say the American is relieved to win that match, “That had a little bit of everything,” Keys was quoted by the WTA website as saying in her on-court interview.
“It’s good to start the year off with a little bit of drama — so glad we got that out of the way. Diana played such a great match, I had to come back and figure out how to get myself back into that match.
“It was trying to stay in every single point, and I knew if I could give myself an opportunity, if I had the chance, then momentum switches so quickly. Really trying to keep the score as close as possible and give myself the best opportunity, then when that opportunity finally came round, to take advantage of that.”
Keys will now face world number one Aryna Sabalenka in a rematch of last year’s Australian Open final.
Also into the quarter-finals is Elena Rybakina as the WTA Finals champion cruised past Paula Badosa 6-3 6-2.
After the win Rybakina was happy with the win but admitted she needs to work on her serve if she wants to win the title, “It’s always tough battles against Paula,” Rybakina told the WTA website.
“She has great shots, she plays really fast and has a very good serve, so it was not easy. I started a little bit slow and was struggling with my serve too. But I’m happy that I managed to win. I was trying to focus one [game] at a time. The serve was not helping so much, so I had to manage the points and stay aggressive on the return.
“I still have a lot of things to work on for the next match, but hopefully it will be better.”
Rybakina will now face Karolina Muchova in the last eight on Friday.
