American tennis star Madison Keys beat world number one Aryna Sabalenka to win the Australian Open on Saturday.
Keys, 29, won 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 in the hotly contested match to win his first-ever Grand Slam tournament.
Keys finished with only one more point earned than Sabalenka overall, winning 92 points, compared to Sabalenka’s 91.
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Madison Keys, center, of the United States, reacts as she receives the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup from Evonne Goolagong Cawley after defeating Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the women’s singles final at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia on Saturday January 25. 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Sabalenka was looking to win her third consecutive Australian Open, which was last achieved – by Martina Hingis – from 1997 to 1999.
It was the second time in Keys’ career that she had a chance at a major title, her last being a 6-3, 6-0 loss to compatriot Sloane Stephens at the 2017 US Open.
Keys had high expectations of herself in her tennis career, but began to accept the fact that she might never win a Grand Slam title.
“From a very young age, I felt like if I had never won a Grand Slam, I wouldn’t have lived up to what people thought I should have been. It was a pretty heavy burden to bear,” Keys said. .
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American Madison Keys reacts during her women’s singles final match against Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
“So I finally got to the point where I was proud of myself and proud of my career, with or without a Grand Slam. I finally got to the point where I was OK if it didn’t happen. I don’t I didn’t need to feel that I had a good career or that I deserved to be talked about as a great tennis player.
“I want to finally let go of this kind of self-talk that I had just given myself the opportunity to go out and play really good tennis to win a Grand Slam.”
Not only did Keys upset No. 1-ranked Sabalenka, but she also defeated No. 2-ranked Iga Świątek in the semifinals en route to her Australian Open title victory.
Keys was the first woman since Serena Williams in 2005 to defeat the WTA’s top two players at Melbourne Park. She said beating Swiatek gave her confidence that she could win against Sabalenka.
American Madison Keys speaks at a news conference after beating Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka in the women’s singles final of the Australian Open tennis tournament to win the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup, in Melbourne, Australia, on Saturday January 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
“Winning that game the other night against Iga was a really big hurdle,” Keys said. “I always believed I could do it, but to do it this way, I really told myself after the game that I absolutely could win on Saturday.”
This was Keys’ 46th appearance at the Slam, the third before winning a major women’s title, being only Flavia Pennetta’s 49 and Marion Bartoli’s 47 before winning.
“I didn’t always believe I could get back to this point. But to be able to do it and win, it means everything to me.”
