Coco Gauff’s former coach highlights stat about American women after Madison Keys beats Iga Swiatek to reach Australian Open final

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Madison Keys has just secured a first Grand Slam final spot since 2017, having battled past Iga Swiatek in their Australian Open semi-final.

Swiatek was criticised for leaving the court during her match with Keys, but the latter was seemingly unaffected as she emerged victorious at Rod Laver Arena.

Keys and WTA number two Swiatek played out a thrilling two-hour, 35-minute encounter, with the American winning 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(10-8).

Coco Gauff loves that Keys has reached the final, with the latter last reaching this stage of a Grand Slam eight years ago, when she lost the 2017 US Open final to compatriot Sloane Stephens.

Fellow American Gauff fell to Paula Badosa in the quarter-finals, but the Spaniard then lost to Sabalenka, who now takes on Keys in the final.

Brad Gilbert highlights American women success at Australian Open as Madison Keys reaches final

The second semi-final at Rod Laver Arena certainly got the crowd on their feet, with the fans and Keys leaving Gauff’s former coach Brad Gilbert really impressed.

“Amazing effort from Madison Ave fighting back late in 3rd set to take out Iga in super breaker,” he wrote on X.

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“She is the fourth American in the final here in the last 6 years. [Sofia] Kenin. [Jennifer] Brady, [Danielle] Collins, lots of great drama in final set and crowd was absolutely rocking.”

Madison Keys continues American tradition in Australian Open finals with win over Iga Swiatek

The Australian Open women’s singles event has been dominated by home winners, with Margaret Court leading the way with her 11 titles.

But Americans are not far behind Australians in terms of overall titles, with the likes of Serena Williams (seven) and Martina Navratilova (three) having played key roles.

READ MORE: Madison Keys breaks all-time Australian Open record as she reaches the final of the tournament

Chris Evert and Jennifer Capriati have also played their part, with Keys now aiming to add her name to the exclusive list.

As Gilbert mentioned, she continues a running trend of American women making the Australian Open finals in recent times, although they have had varying degrees of success.

Kenin beat Garbine Muguruza in 2020, but Brady and Collins lost to Naomi Osaka and Ashleigh Barty in 2021 and 2022 respectively.

An all-American Australian Open final took place shortly before, when Serena Williams beat her sister Venus Williams in Melbourne in 2017.