Keys No Longer Feeling Pressure to Win Elusive Grand Slam Title 

Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 22, 2025 Madison Keys of the US celebrates winning her quarter final match against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina. (Reuters)
Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 22, 2025 Madison Keys of the US celebrates winning her quarter final match against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina. (Reuters)
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Keys No Longer Feeling Pressure to Win Elusive Grand Slam Title 

Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 22, 2025 Madison Keys of the US celebrates winning her quarter final match against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina. (Reuters)
Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 22, 2025 Madison Keys of the US celebrates winning her quarter final match against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina. (Reuters)

Once paralyzed by the pressure to win a Grand Slam title, Madison Keys is now at peace with her lot as she prepares for a blockbuster Australian Open semi-final with Iga Swiatek.

The 19th seeded American booked her third semi-final at Melbourne Park on Wednesday, overhauling Ukrainian Elina Svitolina 3-6 6-3 6-4 with her customary firepower.

Nearly 16 years after turning professional at the age of 14, Keys is still going strong at the majors even if the silverware has eluded her.

The closest she has come was a run to the 2017 US Open final where she was beaten 6-3 6-0 by Sloane Stephens in an all-American clash.

Negotiating second seed Swiatek, who has crushed all five of her opponents at Melbourne Park, will be a huge task for Keys on Thursday but pressure is unlikely to be a problem for the hard-hitting American.

"I'm getting to the point where I'm starting to appreciate my career for what it has been, and it doesn't have to have a Grand Slam in order for me to look at it and say, 'I've done a really good job, and I've really left everything out there'," the 29-year-old told reporters.

"Now, while that's obviously still the goal, there have been periods of my career where it felt like if I didn't win one, then I hadn't done enough, and I didn't live up to my potential in all of that.

"That kind of took a lot of the fun out of the game, and there were times where it felt paralyzing out on the court because it felt as if I needed it to happen instead of giving myself the opportunity to go out and potentially do it."

While Swiatek has been unstoppable in Melbourne and holds a 4-1 winning record over Keys, the Illinois native can go toe-to-toe with the world's best when her power game is on song.

It took a while for it to warm up against Svitolina but soon proved overwhelming for the outgunned 28th seed.

While rarely associated with defense, patience or even much of a Plan B, Keys said she would be wary about being too aggressive against Swiatek.

"The biggest thing that makes her so difficult to beat is because since she moves so well, if you miss your spot just slightly, she has enough time to recover, and then the point goes back to neutral," she said.

"So then there's just such a balance of being aggressive and trying to get her to move and going for things, but not pressing too hard and not going for anything too quickly.

"So I think she just does such a good job at making people start going for a little bit too much too quickly."



Real Madrid Trusting New Improvised Defense to Hold on to La Liga Lead

Football - LaL iga - Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - February 8, 2025 Real Madrid's Raul Asencio reacts at the end of the match. (Reuters)
Football - LaL iga - Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - February 8, 2025 Real Madrid's Raul Asencio reacts at the end of the match. (Reuters)
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Real Madrid Trusting New Improvised Defense to Hold on to La Liga Lead

Football - LaL iga - Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - February 8, 2025 Real Madrid's Raul Asencio reacts at the end of the match. (Reuters)
Football - LaL iga - Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - February 8, 2025 Real Madrid's Raul Asencio reacts at the end of the match. (Reuters)

Real Madrid will have to stick to its improvised back line when it tries to hold on to its narrow lead in La Liga this weekend.

Madrid visits Osasuna on Saturday with a one-point lead over Atletico Madrid and a two-point advantage over Barcelona.

Depleted of defenders, coach Carlo Ancelotti fielded a back line that played together for the first time on Tuesday and won at Manchester City 3-2 in the first leg of the Champions League playoffs.

Ferland Mendy, Aurélien Tchouaméni, Raúl Asencio and Federico Valverde are expected to start in defense again this weekend.

Ancelotti doesn't have much choice. Injuries have robbed him of central defenders Éder Militão, Antonio Rüdiger and David Alaba and right backs Dani Carvajal and Lucas Vázquez.

But the coach was pleasantly surprised by how well this new back line held up at Man City.

Tchouaméni is a midfielder plugged into the central defense and Valverde is also out of position at right back. Like Tchouaméni, Asencio is a B team player, who turned 22 on Thursday.

“The back four had never played together, not even in training,” Ancelotti said this week.

“They were absolutely fantastic. Tchouaméni has come in for a lot of criticism but he was incredible. Asencio’s maturity continues to surprise people and Valverde and Mendy were fantastic. We’ve been able to bring something really positive out of an emergency situation.”

Ancelotti said the whole team has put in the extra effort to help defensively and keep the squad well balanced.

“I always say that defending is about the attitude of the whole team," Ancelotti said. "We defended well as a unit (against City). The team delivered a well-rehearsed defensive display.”

The injuries have prevented Ancelotti from rotating the squad and resting players ahead of the decisive Champions League second leg at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium next week.

“We need Rüdiger and Alaba for the return leg and I think they’ll be available,” Ancelotti said.

Tight at the top In La Liga, Madrid is coming off a 1-1 draw at home against Atletico. Barcelona took advantage of that result to close the gap on the Madrid rivals.

The Catalan club, unbeaten this year with nine wins and two draws, will host sixth-placed Rayo Vallecano on Monday.

Atletico handed Barcelona its last loss in December, and will host mid-table Celta Vigo on Saturday. Diego Simeone's team has only one defeat — 1-0 at Leganes in January — in its last 22 games across all tournaments.

Elsewhere, fourth-placed Athletic Bilbao visits Espanyol, and fifth-placed Villarreal hosts Valencia. Sevilla is at last-placed Valladolid and Real Betis hosts Real Sociedad.