Barty has yet to drop a set in the tournament and Australia is now anticipating a first home Australian Open singles champion since 1978.
“It’s just unreal,” Barty said after the match.
“As an Aussie, we are spoiled that we are a grand slam nation, and now we have a chance to play for a title.”
‘See what happens’ in final
The first set was over in a flash with Barty using her experience and devastating serve to claim it in just 26 minutes.
Keys, who was playing in her first Australian Open semifinal since 2015, struggled to get started in the match but put up some opposition in the second set.
Despite a few impressive winners from the American, it was Barty who was in total control from start to finish.
The Australian crowd roared after Barty hit the winner at match point as they watched her become the first Australian to reach the women’s single final at this event since 1980.
And Barty won’t be very tired, either. She has only spent just over six hours on court during the year’s first grand slam and has never looked in trouble.
Despite this, she won’t be taking the final for granted as she looks to add to her Wimbledon and French Open titles.
“Both [Danielle Collins and Iga Swiatek] are different in the way they play. That’s why they’re here at the business end of the tournament,” she said.
“It’s going to be a hell of a match tonight. I’ll come out here on Saturday with a smile on my face and see what happens.”
Barty’s career has been far more complicated than most.
Having enjoyed a stellar junior career, she took a break from tennis in 2014, later saying that the sport had become “robotic” and that she was a “victim of my own success.”
She turned to cricket and earned a contract as an all-rounder with Brisbane Heat back in Australia, before returning to tennis in 2016.
She went on to win her first grand slam at the French Open in 2019 before taking another break from the sport during the Covid-19 pandemic.
She is now producing some of the best tennis of her life and is certainly the one to beat on the women’s tour.
