Iga Swiatek must continue her search for an elusive Australian Open title in 2026, having once again fallen short this time around.
Swiatek congratulated Madison Keys on her success in Melbourne, with the American having won her maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open.
Keys beat Swiatek in the semi-finals, coming from behind at Rod Laver Arena to beat the Pole 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(10-8).
The American then went on to defeat Aryna Sabalenka in the Australian Open final, with Billie Jean King congratulating Keys on the superb victory.
Swiatek hadn’t lost a single set until she faced Keys, with the WTA number two having eased past the likes of Emma Raducanu and Emma Navarro.
Andy Roddick tells Iga Swiatek she has an ‘issue’ because of her grip
But her surprise defeat means her wait for a sixth Grand Slam title goes on, with former world number one Andy Roddick confident he knows what went wrong for Swiatek in Melbourne.
“She emotes more than Rafa [Nadal],” he said on the Served with Andy Roddick podcast. “Rafa does not give you anything when he is losing points but Iga will look at the box.
“Maybe look a little more panicked sometimes but she is right back. As far as point-to-point and refocusing and resetting, it’s not hard to see that Rafa was her idol. She mimics that. From one point to the next to the next, her intensity never falters.
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“Now does she have an issue when someone goes with massive pace on fast surfaces to the forehand side because she has a pretty extreme grip? Yes.
“The other thing is slow to her forehand when she can create that spin mechanism which jumps off the court.
“It’s great. It’s this weird trade-off when you are playing someone as great as Iga is and when you are Maddie Keys.
“It’s if you lay one off and it’s not with a lot of pace to her forehand all of a sudden she can create that height and get the ball outside the sideline.
“But if you are confident that you can create pace, you can go through that side with Iga. They got into this cross-court rally over and over where it was Maddie playing cuts into the forehand.
“Iga is good at playing D cross-court with that forehand. But what does that do? It ends up in Maddie’s sweet spot.
“Keys will win that over and over again, so it forces Iga to switch directions line which is not the natural shot she wants to hit there but then she wants to access Maddie’s backhand, so once it turns Iga has the better of that chess match.”
What is Iga Swiatek’s Grand Slam record after shock Australian Open exit?
Keys had plenty of momentum going into her semi-final with Swiatek, but given their seedings and indeed Grand Slam history, the latter was undoubtedly the favourite.
The American, who lost the 2017 US Open final to Sloane Stephens, was taking on the second seed in Melbourne.
READ MORE: Madison Keys sends social media message after beating Aryna Sabalenka in the Australian Open final
But it was Keys who produced the best tennis on the day to secure a memorable win, having only ever beaten Swiatek once before.
Their head-to-head record remains in favour of the Pole at 4-2, but Keys certainly boasts the bragging rights at this moment in time.
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