Australian Open 2015: Madison Keys sets up Serena semi-final after beating Venus Williams

Teenager came through 6-3, 4-6, 6-4

Madison Keys (GETTY IMAGES)

For a few minutes it felt like Wimbledon all over again. When Madison Keys felt pain in her left leg midway through her Australian Open quarter-final against Venus Williams here today the 19-year-old immediately thought back to the All England Club last summer, when she was forced to retire when leading Yaroslava Shvedova in their third-round meeting.

“It was definitely a kind of flashback to Wimbledon for me,” Keys said. “I had the same problems with that part of my leg, so it was an overwhelming moment. It was scary, but luckily I was able to catch it before I did any real damage to it. Luckily the painkillers and adrenaline in the end helped me get through it.”

Not only was Keys able to complete the match but she also completed the victory. Williams took the second set after her opponent’s medical time-out, but Keys won a tense final set to round off a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory. The 19-year-old is through to her first Grand Slam semi-final, in which she will meet Williams’ sister, Serena, who beat Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 6-2.

Keys, who recently appointed Lindsay Davenport as her coach, is regarded as one of the United States’ most exciting prospects. The teenager has a big serve and big ground strokes, which are almost prerequisites for success in the modern game.

She loves playing on grass in particular. Having won her only tour title so far at Eastbourne last summer, Keys was regarded by many as a dark horse for Wimbledon, only for her chances to be scuppered by the leg injury she suffered against Shvedova.

Having won the first set of her third-round match at the All England Club, she soldiered on until fading light on the evening of the middle Saturday saw play called off for the day with the score at 6-6 in the second set tie-break. However, Keys had aggravated the injury by carrying on and was unable to play when the match resumed some 36 hours later.

“I ignored [the injury] at Wimbledon and tore it, which ultimately made me have to withdraw,” Keys recalled. “At that moment [here today] it was kind of a panic. I felt I needed to get some tape on it so I didn’t do that again.”

Ultimately it might have been Venus who was most affected by the medical time-out, which Keys took when she trailed 4-1 in the second set. Venus had looked well below her best in the first set but was just hitting her stride when play was interrupted for seven minutes to enable Keys to have treatment.

“I still won the second set, but I felt like I really got off rhythm after that break,” Venus said. “It was hard to come back. I still was able to hold, but I never really felt like I got back to that rhythm that I was building at 4-1 and really just started to feel good about everything. I think for her, when you're injured, you feel a little tentative at the beginning. After a while you feel OK and so then you start to be more relaxed.”

Venus Williams (GETTY IMAGES)

Keys’ problem was identified as a left adductor muscle injury and she returned after the medical time-out with her thigh heavily strapped. The teenager’s movement was restricted thereafter, but she continued to hit the ball cleanly.

“I knew I couldn't run as much,” Key said. “I knew if I was going to get stretched out it was going to be more painful. It was kind of that thing if you have it, go for it, because I'm probably not going to last that long in a rally. That's kind of what I did.”

Serena Williams has struggled at times during the tournament but the world No 1 did not have too much trouble disposing of Cibulkova, who was runner-up to Li Na here last year. That was despite the fact that Serena was still coping with a heavy cold which has troubled her for the last few days.

“It's just getting worse and worse,” she said. “But hopefully it will start getting better. I heard it's a virus going around with a lot of the players. I think I caught it.”

Serena hit 15 aces to Cibulkova’s one as the Slovakian failed to cope with her opponent’s power game. Serena is through to her sixth semi-final here, having gone on to reach the final on each of her previous appearances.

With Maria Sharapova taking on Ekaterina Makarova in the other semi-final tomorrow, a final between a Russian and an American is guaranteed.

Key was asked how she would cope with her injury in her semi-final. “It's probably going to hurt,” she said. “I'm probably going to have tape on it, but I'm just going to do my absolute best and enjoy the moment.”

She added: “I have to go out and I have to do my best and I have to really just stay focused on my side of the court, because she's obviously very, very good and she's going to play very well. So if I get too focused on what she's doing I think I can kind of let the moment get away from me. So I'm just really going to stay focused on myself.”