Keys unleashes a power play and reaches Adelaide’s Final Four

There are many fond memories for Madison Keys in Adelaide, where she added to her impressive career by defeating fellow American Alison Riske to win the 2023 title.

Now the 29-year-old is creating more beautiful memories in the South Australian capital. After victories this week over Beatriz Haddad Maia, Jelena Ostapenko and Daria Kasatkina, the world number 20 has moved into the 2025 semi-finals.

Keys was at her most aggressive in her most recent win, needing less than an hour to claim a 6-1, 6-3 victory over the No. 3 seed, a finalist in last year’s tournament.

She brings her most aggressive tennis to The Drive on Thursday the 20th^ThThe disgruntled American recorded 11 aces and not a single double fault against Kasatkina. Perhaps most impressive, however, were the 38 winners against three from world No. 9 Kasatkina.

She reached the semi-finals in style 💃

Madison Keys defeated Daria Kasatkina 6:1 and 6:3 #AdelaideTennis pic.twitter.com/sqUQfFZfxk

— Adelaide International (@AdelaideTennis) January 9, 2025

“I don’t think I did much wrong tonight,” Keys said. “It was just one of those lines and I hit a lot of lines, which doesn’t always happen, but I’m really happy with the game today and I’m looking forward to coming back tomorrow.”

Keys will fight for a place in the final against world No. 26 Liudmila Samsonova, who stunned No. 2 seed Emma Navarro in the quarterfinals

“She’s another one of those players who can hit anything from anywhere, so you have to be ready for anything,” Keys noted of the world No. 26. “But (I’m) really looking forward to it.”

The American will bring encouraging momentum into the semi-finals after opening her 2025 season with a quarter-final run in Auckland.

“I think I played really good tennis and there were some injuries here and there so I couldn’t really play a full season,” Keys said. “But I put in a lot of work this offseason and I’m feeling really good heading into this season.”

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