MELBOURNE, Australia — American Madison Keys will face two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in the Australian Open final on Saturday, having beaten Keys 5-7 in the semifinals on Thursday night. , defeated world No. 2 Iga Swiatek 6-3 to win the semifinals. 1, 7-6(8).

In this encounter, Swiatek did not lose a set, "big victory" over three opponents, and played only 5 hours and 59 minutes. The No. 2 seed has lost just 14 games in the tournament. By comparison, Keys played 8 hours and 43 minutes and lost 59 games.

To illustrate Swiatek's dominance in Melbourne, the 14 losses tied for the fourth fewest women's semifinals since the Australian Open moved to hard courts in 1988.

So, how did the No. 19 seed of the United States defeat Swiatek? Swiatek looks unbeatable at this tournament and is most likely to beat double defending champion Sabalenka in the final?

Buttons put pressure on Swiatek's serve

Swiatek is used to serving his way in this tournament. Entering the semifinals, Swiatek had only been broken twice in five games and was completely dominant on serve.

In fact, starting from the first round against Katrina Siniakova, Swiatek has held serve for 31 consecutive games, which means that she has never been at a disadvantage on serve. There is not much pressure to maintain hair.

But in the semifinals, Keys put the onus on Swiatek to win her serve from the start. The American broke the five-time Grand Slam winner in the first game of the match and then twice more in the opener, forcing Swiatek to go beyond the lead at 5-5 for the first time in the tournament. Although the world No. 2 defeated Keys 7-5 in the first set, Swiatek drew attention.

Keys' pressure paid off in the second set. She led 5-0 in the second game and eventually won the set 6-1 with a strong base shot. The U.S. knocked down nine game-winners to Swiatek's three. Swiatek's winning rate on first serve in the second set was only 38%. On her second serve? 0%. Keys continued to attack, and the effect was very good, scoring 14 of the 22 points on Swiatek's serve in that set.

Keys keeps his cool in crucial moments

In the tug-of-war, both players held serve with relative ease. Until the eighth and ninth games, Swiatek trailed 3-4 on serve. Keys led 15-40 and had two break points, but five-time Grand Slam winner Swiatek pulled her back.

But whatever Swiatek does, Keys can match it — and more. Swiatek led 0-40 in the next game, and this break meant she would continue to serve. But Keys scored consecutively and saved a total of four break point opportunities to keep the game on serve.

In Keys' next service game, it was déjà vu. 0-40 hole; but she failed to recover from it and due to an offensive error, Swiatek got a key break opportunity.

While Keys' ill-considered approach to the net was a critical mistake, Swiatek squandered a match point opportunity in her next service game at 6-5 before double-faulting to force the deciding set into a 10-point tie-break.

Even so, there were ups and downs, but Keys took another chance in the final seconds and Swiatek couldn't catch up. The American player sent an ace to tie the score to 8-8, and once again sent a thunderous serve that Swiatek could not handle, chasing the score to 9-8. This gave Keys her first match point and her first lead of the tiebreak, and Swiatek failed to save her serve, sending a long forehand that put Keys in second. Entered a Grand Slam final for the first time.

"(I'm) really proud of myself for being able to stay like that. Obviously, being in the lead in third, feeling like I was so close to the finish line, losing serve, and then being able to stay at that level right up until the end and I was in the tiebreaker The inning was as close as it could get and I’m really proud of that game,” Case said after the game.

Case knows that if she doesn't feel good, she can keep going

Keys spoke about her loss to Sloane Stephens in the 2017 U.S. Open final during her post-win press conference.

It's a game she says she keeps replaying in her head, but it was also the catalyst for her mindset to shift toward intense and big moments.

"I think the biggest thing for me is knowing there are going to be times in the game where I'm not going to feel comfortable. It's going to be stressful. There are thousands of people watching you. You might not be playing your best game. Good tennis," she said. "But, I think instead of trying to avoid the situation and looking for stability or comfort or whatever, it's better to accept the situation and that you can play tennis that way too, and I think that's something I've been working on.

“I think that’s probably one of the biggest lessons I can take away from the US Open final is that I know I’m probably going to be uncomfortable 99 percent of the time on the court, but that’s okay and I can still play tennis through it. "

Keys will face Sabalenka in the women's final on Saturday.