The Madison Keys who will play two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka for the title at the Australian Open is not the same players who was the runner-up at the U.S. Open in 2017.

Madison Keys has learnt plenty since her last, and first, grand slam final – mainly to embrace the prospect of being “uncomfortable 99 per cent of the time”.

Sabalenka beat good friend Paula Badosa of Spain earlier Thursday, 6-4, 6-2. Sabalenka, a 26-year-old from Belarus, can become the first woman since 1999 to win three consecutive Australian Open singles crowns. "If she plays like this," the 11th-seeded Badosa said, "I mean, we can already give her the trophy."