Like when she dropped the first set despite having broken Swiatek’s serve thrice. Or when she was love-40 down on her serve twice over deep into the third set. Or when she was 5-7 down in the deciding, nerve-racking first-to-10 match tiebreaker.

But Keys kept dangling and dazzling. She kept her foot on the pedal and the mind in the positive. She kept hanging in there and staying close to the Pole.

And finally, when Swiatek’s forehand sailed long, this swinging Keys unlocked an Australian Open final spot for the first time. After the two-hour, 35-minute high-quality, drama-filled battle ended at 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(10-8), Keys got down on her haunches, placed her left palm over her cap and let her tears flow.

The American also wept after the 2023 US Open semi-final which she surrendered to Aryna Sabalenka from a near-winning position, wondering if she’d be able to get herself back to these big stages again. Here she is, one step further, taking on Sabalenka — the two-time defending champion eased past Paula Badosa 6-4, 6-2 — again. This time for her first Grand Slam title at 29, eight long years after she last had a crack at it at the 2017 US Open.

“I would be lying if I said that there weren’t doubts,” Keys said after her win when asked about doubts in 2023 of this happening again. “To be that close and to lose it was just heartbreaking. I felt like I really left it all out there. But then I kept telling myself that if I keep putting in the work and leaving it all out there, that’s the only thing I can control.”

She would leave it all out there at Rod Laver Arena on Thursday. The 19th seed had spoken about the futility in trying to “out-defend Iga”. Staying true to a risk-laden style however is easier said than done, especially in the increased spotlight of a major semi-final and in taking on a five-time Slam winner shining brighter than ever at Melbourne Park. Swiatek had lost just five games after her second round, not dropping her serve once.

That it would be no cakewalk against Keys was evident from the first game. The world No.14 broke the world No.2 immediately, bringing out her big shots from the get-go that had sent Danielle Collins and Elena Rybakina packing.

Swiatek currently is a notch above these names, though, and her fluid on-court movement nullified Keys’s firing rhythm. It forced the American to hunt more for the lines and therefore miss more. Four breaks of serve were exchanged early, and then a couple more, before Swiatek pounced on some shaky second serves to break her opponent serving to stay in the set again.

Down a set, questions can creep in. Swing and stumble or solidify and survive. Bjorn Fratangelo, the former American pro turned Keys’s husband and coach, has been clear about where the answer lies for him.

“What I’ve tried to instill in her is that winning and losing is irrelevant, but how you lose and how you win matters,” Fratangelo told The New York Times. “Don’t lose being passive, because it’s not who you are… You lose putting your foot on the gas pedal, that’s OK.”

So, Keys kept her foot on the pedal. And went on an overdrive. She raced to 5-0 in the second set, breaking Swiatek’s serve thrice and blasting nine winners for the set (Swiatek had three). Keys’s foot just wouldn’t come off.

A bathroom break from Swiatek calmed things down for solid holds from both players until the eighth game into the decider. Then Keys had two chances for the break and couldn’t take it. Then Swiatek saw a huge love-40 opening and couldn’t take it. She got another one the next game and cashed in this time.

With Swiatek serving for the match, a forehand winner came whizzing by for 30-30. With Swiatek on match point, a backhand error was extracted off a brilliant return. Keys’s foot just wouldn’t come off. And with Swiatek feeling the heat, a double fault demanded a match tiebreaker.

Swiatek stayed composed and ahead for most of it. Leading 7-5, out came a backhand winner from across the net. At 8-7, out came an ace. At 8-8, out came a big first serve. Keys’s foot just wouldn’t come off. On the next point, she got over the line.

That foot will have to remain on the pedal against Sabalenka, who is an even bigger hitter from the baseline. “Her ability to kind of always go for it, no matter what the score is, is really impressive,” the American said. A lot like Keys.