Embarrassing on-air gaffe in Madison Keys post-match interview adds to Australian Open woes for Channel Nine

An embarrassing on-air gaffe in a post-match interview with Madison Keys has added to Channel Nine’s horror run at the Australian Open this year.

The American 19th seed will face two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in Saturday’s final after defeating world No.2 Iga Switaek in a huge semifinal upset at Rod Laver Arena on Thursday night.

Keys booked her place in the women’s title decider with a gritty 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (10-8) victory, having lost her serve at five-all and saving a match point in a thrilling third set.

A see-sawing 10-point tiebreak then went down to the wire, before Keys won four of the final five points to claim a hard-fought victory.

Amid fierce criticism from players of the broadcaster and on-court interviews in recent days, former Australian tennis player Casey Dellacqua is the latest to come under fire after an awkward moment with Keys.

While answering a question about the gripping third set, the 29-year-old asked Dellacqua: “Did she have a match point?”

The interviewer laughed, which was followed by an awkward silence. Dellacqua then claimed: “No, I don’t think she had a match point”.

Keys looked confused by the response before it appeared someone off-camera corrected the mistake.

“Yeah, she had one, to be honest... she had one,” she said, as Keys nodded.

Dellacqua claimed she had to run from the bunker to get on-court, despite Switaek’s match point occurring before the 10-point tiebreak got underway, and the pair laughed it off.

The on-air gaffe was labelled “embarrassing” and “humiliating” on social media.

“How does someone coming to do the on-court interview not know that a player had match point?” one comment said.

“Casey Dellacqua did not know if Swiatek had match point...?? Surely there are at least 100 more qualified people to conduct a purposeful post-match on-court interview after a semi-final of a grand slam?” another said.

“They sent out Casey Dellacqua to flop the Madison Keys interview after that epic performance. Even with notes, forgot the Swiatek match point and completely unorganised,” another said.

One X user claimed the mistake ruined the moment for Keys, who qualified for a Grand Slam singles final for just the second time in her career.

“Shame on Casey Dellacqua for having no clue about what just transpired re: match points! Are you serious!?!? How to ruin Madison Keys’ big moment,” the comment read.

It comes after Key’s compatriot, semi-finalist Ben Shelton, criticised Nine’s Open coverage for treating players poorly.

“I’ve been a little bit shocked this week with how players have been treated by the broadcasters,” he said.

“I’ve noticed it with different people, not just myself. I noticed it with Learner Tien in one of his matches... when he beat (Daniil) Medvedev, his post-match interview, I thought it was kind of embarrassing and disrespectful.”

Shelton’s comments come after Tony Jones and Channel Nine were forced to apologise for “disrespectful” comments directed towards Novak Djokovic.

Jones called the 24-time Grand Slam champion “has-been” which sparked outrage amongst players, fans and the Serbian community.

Djokovic subsequently boycotted the broadcaster, refusing to do an on-court interview after wins until he received the apology.

However, Shelton has been involved in his own awkward interview gaffes with Roger Reed commenting on how Gael Monfils was old enough to be Shelton’s dad after his victory over the Frenchman with Shelton responding: “Was that a black joke?”

Shelton was also asked by announcer James Sherry how it felt knowing no one would support him in the semi-final when he faced either Jannik Sinner or Alex de Minaur, before his match-up with the defending champion was confirmed.

‘“I feel like broadcasters should be helping us grow our sport and help these athletes who just won matches on the biggest stage enjoy one of their biggest moments,” he said of the treatment.

“I feel like there’s just been a lot of negativity. I think that’s something that needs to change.”