“For sure she made less mistakes, less mistakes than on those matches I won against her. I also played against her in Cincinnati where she also kind of played perfectly, and I had nothing to say,” said Swiatek, referring to Keys’ 6-3 6-4 win on hard courts in 2022.

“I know she could do both. I didn’t know which one she’s going to be (on Thursday). I think she was just more solid than when we played these matches that I won.”

IN FOCUS: Another year, another home-grown AO champion to look forward to

In assessing her own game, Swiatek lamented her serve.

“I think maybe I would have won it sometimes if I could win easy points with my serve as she did kind of,” said Swiatek, who hit seven double faults and claimed just 53 per cent of her first-serve points.

“She could always come back from being in trouble with the serve, but I didn’t serve as well. So maybe that would make a difference.”

The character that she is, Swiatek alongside newish coach Wim Fissette, is bound to keep on exploring ways to make her already potent game even better, after tweaking her service action early last year.

Keys became the fourth consecutive power baseliner to top Swiatek at the Australian Open, following Linda Noskova, Elena Rybakina and Keys’ pal, Danielle Collins in the previous three years.

Still, Swiatek did take heart from her successful Australian summer, which began at the United Cup.

ANALYSIS: Swashbuckling Swiatek soaring at AO 2025

“Overall, pretty positive,” said Swiatek. “As a person, I’ve been feeling a bit better than previous years here.

“For sure United Cup always brings a lot of positive emotions, but here I always felt tense and really, I don’t know, just like not always happy. This year it was different. For sure it gives me a positive vibe for the rest of the season.

“Obviously for sure I wanted more. I already played a semifinal. I wanted to win this one, but I think if I keep working hard, I’ll have more chances in the future, and maybe I’ll use them as I didn’t use my match point.”