Madison Keys (Image: Getty)
Madison Keys revealed she has imposed a text ban on Frances Tiafoe after reaching her third semi-final a decade after her first.
The No.19 seed ended the brave run of Ukrainian Elina Svitolina 3-6 6-3 6-4 in the last eight.
But the 2017 US Open finalist said she told her friend Tiafoe not to send any congratulatory messages during the tournament because they had brought bad luck in the past.
“No, I probably won’t text him,” said Keyes. “We have this kind of joke where in the past he wouldn’t say anything pre-tournament or anything, and then he would text me, like, in the quarters or the semis or something, and I would lose the next round.
“So we have this new rule. Like I saw him a few days ago, and I said: ‘Don’t text me, I don’t want to hear from you at all, just leave me alone and we’ll talk after the tournament’.”
Using a new racket this season, Keys won the title in Adelaide and is now on a 10-match winning streak. Keys, 29, first reached the last four as a teenager here in 2015.
“It feels great,” she said. “I’m really, really proud of myself to be in another semifinal here and kind of hoping and looking forward to see if I can make it one step further. I think now that I’ve been in this position a few times, I can definitely try to lean in on that.
Frances Tiafoe is banned from messaging fellow American Madison Keys (Image: Getty)
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“At this point, I mean, everyone has also won some really great matches, and we’re all playing some really good tennis. This is really what they call the business end of the tournament.
“So as much as you have experience in all of that, at the end of the day it’s also you just have to go out and do your best and leave it all out there.
“I think as long as I can do that, no matter what happens, then I can walk away with my head held high.”
Keys lost in the semi-finals here to eventual champions Serena Williams in 2015 and then Ash Barty in 2022. She now faces world No.2 who has dropped only 14 games in reaching the last four. “Iga is tough to beat, because she has a lot of spin, kind of naturally, on both sides,” said the American.
“She’s a good server. She’s a good returner. She moves incredibly well. The biggest thing that makes her so difficult to beat is, because 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.”
Defending champion will face her friend and No.11 seed Paula Badosa in the other semi-final on Thursday.