Serena chasing history, but can Keys steal the show?
It’s not often the first night of a Grand Slam singles final ends in a draw, but it happened on Sunday at the Australian and French Opens in Melbourne.
Earlier in the day, both players had looked confident and in good form, and for some reason, the world’s No.2 and No.3 players in the world have both gone missing.
Keys missed the first four matches of her career because of an apparent back injury, and the 32-year-old Australian went on to win her first grand slam title when she defeated Garbine Muguruza 6-3, 6-3, to reach the French Open final.
The world’s No.1 has been out of action for a year and six weeks, and she’s looked completely washed out in the last two major tournaments she played at, losing to Jelena Ostapenko in a third round rubber and falling to Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarterfinals.
But it seems to be the other way around, with the 30-year-old Muguruza, who has dropped back into the doubles and mixed doubles draw, on a roll and winning back-to-back major titles.
“I have to congratulate her on her last two big wins. She has a fantastic record. I wish her all the best,” Keys said of Muguruza.
“She has been one of my favs since 2006 or so, and obviously she’s going to be top seed this year, but I think it’s a little unfair to say that she’s been the best.”
Keys also felt that a lot of the criticism that the 23-time Grand Slam winner has received since she won last year’s Australian Open was unfair, and she didn’t disagree.
“I think it’s quite unfair because she’s been injured. She doesn’t have any excuses. Her career’s been a great run. Let’s talk about the injuries that she’s had and how she’s been playing,” she said.
“I think if you just look at the matches she’s