Madison Keys gives her opinion on the Australian Open crowds after empty seats for her match on Rod Laver Arena

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Madison Keys advanced to her third-career Australian Open semi-final with a win over Elina Svitolina.

Only four WTA players remain as the year’s first Grand Slam reaches the semi-final stage.

Iga Swiatek beat Emma Navarro on Wednesday to advance, after Keys had taken down Svitolina in three sets in the day’s first quarter-final.

On Tuesday, Paula Badosa shocked Coco Gauff, and Aryna Sabalenka took down Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to book their places in the final four.

As always at the Australian Open, it’s been an excellent tournament, although it hasn’t been without criticism.

Keys‘ quarter-final match with Svitolina began with plenty of empty seats, which the American star has now commented on.

Madison Keys gives thoughts on empty seats during her Australian Open quarter-final match

In her post-match press conference, Keys was asked whether the empty seats contributed to her ‘flat’ start against Svitolina, where she dropped the first set, 3-6.

“No, I mean, I personally really enjoy playing earlier in the day,” she said.

“I think you kind of know that it’s probably not going to be at its max capacity just because people are kind of slowly coming in.

“I would say that the crowd definitely had nothing to do with the reason why I was starting flat.

“I mean, to be totally honest, I didn’t even think about it or never even crossed my mind.”

WTA legend Pam Shriver criticized the scheduling of women’s matches in Australia earlier this week, complaining that they were consistently being given earlier time slots.

“What is going on with AO [Australian Open] scheduling,” she said.

“Is it a race to get women’s matches out of the way as early as possible on all courts?”

Both women’s quarter-final matches on Wednesday were played before the two remaining men’s quarter-finals.

World number one Sabalenka disagreed with Shriver, arguing instead that she was ‘happy with the scheduling’, and that she could ‘not relate to this’.

Away from the scheduling controversy, Keys praised the Aussie crowd for their support.

“I always really love playing here. I have typically had some really great crowd support,” she said.

“There are quite a few Americans pretty much on every court where you go here, so it’s always nice to have some home-grown support as well.

“I would say here is definitely the most fun.

“They love tennis, they’re loud, they’re lively, but I’ve always really enjoyed my time here.

“Other than having to play an Australian here, I’m usually in a crowd that’s pretty supportive.”

The crowd roared her on to victory against Svitolina, as she fought back from a set down to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, securing her spot in the last four, where she’ll come up against Poland’s Swiatek.

Could Madison Keys finally win her first Grand Slam title at the 2025 Australian Open?

At 29 years old, Keys is playing some of the best tennis of her career and looks well placed to compete for a Grand Slam title this year.

She’ll face a tough test against world number two Swiatek in the last four though, a stage at which she’s fallen five times in the past.

Keys has lost to players ranked inside the world’s top two in three of her five Major semi-final defeats, a worrying sign for when she steps on to the court against Swiatek on Thursday.

The head-to-head may also be of concern to the big-hitting American, as she trails Swiatek 1-4, having lost their last two matches in straight sets.

She’ll take some inspiration from her lone win against the five-time Major champion, however, as Keys secured a comfortable win over Swiatek in Cincinnati three years ago.

Only time will tell if this is finally the year Keys gets her hands on a Grand Slam title, but she’ll certainly be hoping to pull off a big upset to secure her place in the Australian Open final for the first time.

Keys will take on Swiatek at Rod Laver Arena, on Thursday, January 23.