Facing Ashleigh Barty is no party.

Madison Keys summed up the considerable challenge of playing the world No. 1 simply "it sucks."

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You can understand Keys' candor.

Barty won seven of the first eight games in a 6-1, 6-3 triumph to become the first Australian woman since Wendy Turnbull in 1980 to reach the Australian Open final.

The top-seeded Barty held at love in four of eight service games and used her arrhythmic attack to defuse the hard-hitting American.

"I mean, she's just playing incredibly well," Keys said of Barty. "I mean, you have a game plan in your head, but she's just executing everything so well. She's serving incredibly well, so you don't get any free points on that.

"Her slice is coming in so much lower and deeper than it was in the past so it's hard to do anything on that. Then you try to play to her forehand and she can open you up there.

"I think she's playing some really, really good tennis, but she's also, it just seems so locked in and focused. I mean, I have played her a handful of times, and this is easily the best I think she's ever been playing."

Former US Open finalist Keys said the totality of Barty's all-court game—the precise serve, damaging forehand, skill closing at net and that slithering slice backhand—was simply too much to overcome.

"I think everything has just improved a little bit," Keys said. "I think she's got a little bit more precise on her serve. I think her forehand she's doing a really good job at mixing up paces and spins, as well.

"It feels like you can't really get in a rhythm off of that forehand side. Then on her backhand side, I mean, everything is coming in at your shoelaces on the baseline. So it's not like you can really do anything with that."



Keys' game plan was to play heavy to Barty's backhand, but the Aussie's ability to shift the pace, depth and angle of that slice coaxed Keys into errors.

"The tough thing, though, is that you have to have so much racquet head speed when her slice is coming in, but then you also have to balance not overhitting it," Keys said. "I felt like I started getting a better feel of it like in the middle of the second set, but then at that point being a set and a break down against World No. 1 is kind of a difficult position to start feeling yourself.

"So, I mean, I think I had a game plan. I don't think I executed it very well."

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