“At this point, I mean, everyone has also won some really great matches, and we’re all playing some really good tennis,” said Keys, after reaching her third AO semifinal in 2025, a tournament she went on to win.
“This is really what they call the business end of the tournament.”
Not only are they tennis superstars, but many of those women’s semifinalists are some of the most globally-recognised female athletes.
Four of the five highest paid female athletes on the planet – Gauff, Swiatek, Sabalenka and Zheng Qinwen – have all previously featured on AO women’s semifinal night.
Many of them have featured in blockbuster battles, three of which we’re revisiting here:
2022: Ash Barty d Madison Keys
This might not have been a classic in terms of the scoreline, but when it came to gravitas and atmosphere, Barty’s match-up with Keys had enormous impact.
It was the inaugural match of the new night-time women’s semifinal session, and with a local player headlining the action, Australian audiences were captivated.
The match drew a peak national TV audience of almost 2.5 million – at that point the highest-rating match of AO 2022.
Barty played almost flawlessly in her 6-1 6-3 victory, becoming the first Australian woman to reach an AO singles final since Wendy Turnbull in 1980.
It set the stage for a final against Danielle Collins, which Barty went on to win – a result electrifying the tournament, re-writing the Australian record books and cementing Barty as an icon in her homeland.
2024: Aryna Sabalenka d Coco Gauff
This was a blockbuster semifinal between the reigning Australian Open and US Open champions.
That made it just the eighth women’s match between reigning major champions in Melbourne Park history.
Not only that, but Gauff had only months earlier beaten Sabalenka in three compelling sets in the US Open final, setting the stage for a highly-anticipated rematch.