Madison Keys overcame the challenge of Elena Rybakina to reach her fourth Australian Open quarter-final.
Keys has overcome two former Australian Open finalists in back-to-back matches after beating Danielle Collins and Rybakina.
Both matches had elements of controversy surrounding them, with Keys commenting on Collins being booed onto court ahead of their third round match.
While Rybakina’s concerns are related to former coach Stefano Vukov, who she has recently tried to reunite with.
Despite all the controversial stories going on at the Australian Open, including Novak Djokovic rejecting an interview with Jim Courier, Keys has maintained on a steady track to the last eight in Melbourne.
Madison Keys admits ‘crazy’ change she has made at the Australian Open
Mats Wilander criticised Madison Keys’ defensive game after her third round victory over Collins.
Keys is most known for her powerful groundstrokes, but has admitted that she is actually trying to be even more aggressive at the Australian Open this year and used it to her advantage against Rybakina.
“I think I’ve actually been – and it’s going to sound crazy, but I think I have actually been working on trying to play a little bit more aggressive,” Keys said in her post-match press conference. “I found that in the second set I got a little bit nervous, and I felt like I got a little bit passive. I felt like I just kind of kept giving her opportunities to start attacking me instead of me being the one that was kind of dictating the point.
“So we have really been working on actually taking a little bit more chances and trying to go a little bit more aggressive and bigger from the start. I think for me, weirdly, my instinct is to kind of back up and try to play safe, but it doesn’t usually get me very far.
“Today I think I was thinking a lot, especially in the last bit of the third set, and really making the conscious decision to try to be a little bit more aggressive and try to take the initiative more.”
While Keys was able to hit 27 winners using her added aggression, the 29-year-old also hit 31 unforced errors.
Madison Keys explains why she changed her racket
Not only has Keys been trying to adapt her game, but she has also made a recent racket change after switching from Wilson to Yonex.
When asked about why she decided to make this switch, Keys brought it back to utilising her more aggressive gamestyle.
“I was just looking for a little bit of, I guess, safer, easier power,” explained Keys. “I mean, I love my racquet for a really long time obviously because I stuck with it for so long, but I felt like it was just getting a little bit difficult to play with on bad days, where it just wasn’t really helping me enough, and I was searching for more help and an ability to, the days where you’re not feeling it 100%, be able to kind of figure things out and still be able to make the ball.
“I’m not super on it when it comes to equipment and things like that. I’m more I pick things up, I tell you if I like them or hate them. That’s kind of it. So to be totally honest, I have no idea why I like this racquet, what it does, like, all the specifics of it. I just knew when I picked it up, it felt really good, and that was the winner.”
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