Mumbai, Jan. 23 -- A few times through her professional career that began in 2009, a thought - more a question, really - would leave Madison Keys feeling a bit paralysed on court: "If it didn't happen right now, would it ever happen?"
Moments after the 2023 US Open semi-final where she was up 6-0, 5-3 before a sensational turnaround by Aryna Sabalenka, Keys broke down and wept in her press conference. Perhaps that thought seeped in again for a player now in her late twenties: would it ever happen again?
It has, at this Australian Open. A full decade after it first did. The American is back in the semi-final at Melbourne Park, rallying to defeat Ukraine's Elina Svitolina 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Her 2015 quarter-final victory also happened to be a t...