Madison Keys’ fantastic week in Birmingham continued on Saturday as she came from a set behind for the second match in a row to beat Carla Suarez Navarro 3-6 6-3 7-6 and book her place in the Aegon Classic final. Her opponent will be 2014 finalist Barbora Strycova, who lost her first set of the tournament but ended the prospect of an all-American final by defeating Coco Vandeweghe 2-6 6-4 6-3.

Keys’ semifinal win moves her up into the world’s top 10 for the first time, and afterward she talked about the pressure of dealing with the high expectations of the American public in recent years and the implications of Serena Williams telling her she will be world No. 1 in the future.

Keys said, ‘I've dealt with the pressure for a while. I've been pretty lucky the last couple years because there have been so many other American players that have taken the spotlight at times. Sharing it has been helpful. But in the last year or so, I've learned how to handle the outside opinions and pressures a lot better. It's great to hear, and I love that (Serena) thinks that seeing how successful she's been, but that just makes me work harder.’

Now that Keys is top 10, some players will view a match against her as an opportunity to beat one of the world’s best. When she was asked how she would cope with that, Keys said, ‘(In ITFs I’ve played), there’s been that element of no longer being the lower-ranked player and feeling like you're the one who's supposed to win the match. Obviously, it's never been this big for me, so that's definitely going to be something I have to deal with and learn how to handle. I’m really happy that I'm in the position.’

The American seems better equipped to handle difficult situations during matches than ever before, and she credits her experience on tour for helping her get to this point. She said, ‘I think it's just getting the practice at it and becoming more and more comfortable in that position. Really knowing that no matter what, I can figure out a way. The last two matches have shown that to me. You put that in your memory and use it for the next time and see what happens.’

Keys might have to draw on her rapidly developing ability to deal with pressurized situations yet again tomorrow when she faces Strycova, a talented and highly experienced opponent, in the final. The Czech, 30, reached the same stage in 2014 but lost 6-3 6-2 to Ana Ivanovic on that occasion. She will be hoping to go one better this time around and lift the trophy, but her chances of doing that may be hampered by fatigue, since she has played six hours and 52 minutes of tennis across five matches in singles and doubles during the last 48 hours. Her efforts have also earned her a place in the doubles final alongside compatriot Karolina Pliskova, where they will battle Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva for the title.

Despite spending so much time on court, Strycova said she feels ‘surprisingly okay’ and is looking forward to facing Keys in the singles final. ‘I go into the match with, I don't want to say nothing to lose, but it's a final. Anything can happen. It's on grass, which is a surface I like. It's going to be a totally different match to our last meeting in Rome. That was a really tough one, and I lost 6-4 in the third. But she's a great player, so I will have to produce some good tennis.’

Like Keys, Strycova has had an amazing week, and if she continues to cope with the extraordinary physical demands she has faced this week in her two finals tomorrow, she could end up with two trophies. Keys will be doing everything in her power to make sure that doesn’t happen in singles as she chases the perfect climax to her brilliant week in Birmingham.