Three takeaways from Azarenka's Australian Open turnaround vs ...

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The last remaining Australian Open champion is still in the draw after No.24 seed Victoria Azarenka upended No.10 seed Madison Keys 1-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the third round.

The 2012 and 2013 titlist moved into the second week of the Australian Open for a 10th time in 15 appearances, and for the 28th time overall at Grand Slam tournaments. Here are the key takeaways from Azarenka's seesaw victory.

History triumphed over form: Just as she had last year, Keys came into Melbourne on one of her hot streaks. In 2022, she rejuvenated her career with a 10-match winning streak that took her from the Adelaide 250 title to the Australian Open semifinals. This year, Keys went unbeaten at the United Cup as she helped the U.S. to win the inaugural title, but her streak was stopped at seven by a familiar nemesis.

Azarenka owned a 3-0 head-to-head lead over Keys coming into this match, including a 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-1 win in the third round of Guadalajara three months ago. She had little say during a breathtaking first set from Keys, finding a scant two winners to the American's 14. But even when she seemed powerless, Azarenka's history both at the Australian Open and against Keys meant that a turnaround was always on the cards.

Azarenka remains one of the tour's finest tacticians: The numbers tell a familiar story of Keys' oscillating form. She slammed 14 winners to eight unforced errors in the first set, during which she impressed with her movement as well as her trademark power. In the second and third sets, Keys racked up 31 unforced errors to only 13 winners.

But the numbers themselves don't tell the story of the tactics. In the second set, Azarenka began reading Keys' game better and better: anticipating which direction her hammer blows were going in, and sprinting across the court to retrieve them; eliciting a plethora of errors with deep returns at Keys' feet.

The 33-year-old's turnaround was also down to her improved serve. She was beset by three ill-timed double faults in the first set, but committed only one more for the rest of the match. Her first serve percentage crept up from 50% in the opener to 60% in the second set and 64% in the third.

"I felt like in the first set I was looking for solution without doing my basics," said Azarenka.  "That was, like, running before I actually have to do something. I was trying to fix something that I didn't have a foundation of.

"I actually told to myself... I kept looking at my coach a little bit, not too much, but, like, he's not going to tell me something magical and all of a sudden everything is going to change. I told myself, 'Nobody's going to play for you, you just got to go out and do what you believe is right.'

"That is something I'm proud of, for not freaking out or feeling bad for myself because that's sometimes normal reactions when you have disappointment.

"The solution solving is definitely something that I'm proud of. But also to simplify things a little bit. Sometimes to look for a solution, you get a little bit caught in too many things. To simplify that, like I did today, I think was very important."

Azarenka's presence keeps some established energy in the draw: Had Keys won, a new Australian Open champion would have been guaranteed -- indeed, none of the remaining players would have even had a final in Melbourne under their belts. Azarenka's advancement means that the 2023 title can't be relinquished to the new guard just yet.

And she may be sticking around for a while yet. Azarenka will next face either No.6 seed Maria Sakkari, against whom she is 2-0, or No.87-ranked Zhu Lin, whom she has never played. A potential quarterfinal would pit her against either No.3 seed Jessica Pegula, against whom she is 2-2, or No.20 seed Barbora Krejcikova, against whom she is 1-1.

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