Iga Swiatek is on a mission in Melbourne! She’s yet to drop a set at the 2025 AO. After defeating Emma Navarro in the QF, she’s all set to face yet another American in her next match. Next up for her is Madison Keys. Interestingly, this will be the 29-year-old’s third SF appearance at the AO. What does Swiatek have to say about her next opponent?

“Well, honestly, Madison is a great player and really experienced, so you never know. The match that I lost, she kinda killed me, so I think it can go…it can be tricky. I’ll be just focused on myself,” said Swiatek ahead of this epic SF clash. Can Madison Keys force a massive upset by defeating the five-time Grand Slam champion in the semis?

Iga Swiatek vs Madison Keys: Preview

Iga Swiatek had a stellar start to her season in 2024. She won the Qatar Open in February, then went on to beat Maria Sakkari in the final of the Indian Wells Masters before securing two victories over her arch-rival Aryna Sabalenka in the finals of the Madrid Open and the Italian Open. After that, the ‘Queen of Clay’ reclaimed her crown at the Roland Garros! However, following her impressive runs in the initial phases of the 2024 season, Iga Swiatek struggled a bit with her form for the rest of the year. Here in Australia, she has got off to a flying start to her campaign and she recently thrashed Navarro by 6-1,6-2 in the QF. Can she come up with yet another dominating performance against Keys?

On the other hand, Madison Keys looks quite “fearless” at the moment! She’s in red-hot form in 2025 and guess what? Currently, she’s on a 10-match winning streak. Apart from winning the title at the Internationaux de Strasbourg, Madison Keys looked pretty ordinary last year. However, this year, she has already clinched a title at the Adelaide International. If we take a look at her opponents in the last three matches, she defeated her compatriot Danielle Collins in the R3, overcame the challenge from 2023 AO finalist, Elena Rybakina in R4, and then finally defeated Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina in a three-set thriller in the QF. What’ll be the scoreline in the semis?

Swiatek vs Keys: Head-to-Head

Both players are desperate to bring out their A-game in this high-octane clash. If we take a look at their previous records, Iga Swiatek and Madison Keys have faced each other five times in their careers so far and currently the Pole leads the H2H scoreline by a 4-1 margin.

• 2024 Rome QF: Swiatek 6-1,6-3.
• 2024 Madrid SF: Swiatek 6-1,6-3.
• 2022 Cincinnati R16: Keys 6-3,6-4.
• 2022 Indian Wells QF: Swiatek 6-1,6-0.
• 2021 Rome R32: Swiatek 7-5,6-1.

Prediction: Swiatek to win in three sets

Looking at Iga Swiatek‘s dominating performance in the previous matches, we feel the former world number will be the favorite in this match. However, having said that, Madison Keys could possibly push Iga Swiatek to play three sets for the first time at the 2025 AO! It has been pretty much a cakewalk for the Pole so far, but Keys will also be keen to keep her winning run intact. So, this match could possibly go a little deeper!

Looking at the numbers, Iga Swiatek (2) had a win-loss record of 64-9 last season, whereas, Madison Keys (14) had a record of 24-12 in 2024. Both these players have got off to a bright start in 2025, but it’ll be interesting to see who outshines the other in this battle of two superstars in women’s tennis.

If we take a glimpse at their playing styles, Iga Swiatek loves playing an aggressive brand of tennis and she can also bring a lot of variety into her game. Swiatek can generate a high amount of winners but at the same time, she is prone to committing a similar number of unforced errors. Iga Swiatek has a strong backhand and forehand to counter her opponents, but apart from that her incredible speed and court coverage are some of the key factors which separate her from others.

Madison Keys’ playing style is mainly based on her hard-hitting with big serves and powerful groundstrokes on both her forehand and backhand sides. She is an aggressive baseliner and we don’t often see her going to the net to finish off the points. Instead, she likes to rely on her power to hit forehand and backhand winners to endpoints. However, her biggest weakness is her inability to control her power at times and she often commits too many unforced errors while aiming for the winners. So, keeping all these things in mind, we feel it’d be really tough for Madison Keys to seal the deal against someone like Iga Swiatek.