Madison Keys Wins Her First Grand Slam Title After Beating Sabalenka At Australian Open
News
Madison Keys is a Grand Slam champion after she was able to beat Aryna Sabalenka in the 2025 Australian Open final.
While being a spectator in this match was definitely a great experience, the tennis balls certainly didn't enjoy it so much. Both of these players are heavy hitters, and they both blew some solid opposition off the court to reach the final in Melbourne.
For Keys, this was her maiden Australian Open final, but second Grand Slam final, after she played in the 2017 US Open final. Sabalenka, on the other hand, was a two-time defending champion.
Thanks to reaching the final, Sabalenka retained her World No. 1 ranking, regardless of the result of the final match. Her final opponent helped her to that, as the American player eliminated Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals.
Although Sabalenka was the player who stood in the Australian Open final in the past two seasons, she was also the more nervous player at the start of this match. The Belarusian hit two double faults in the opening game, and Keys didn't need more than that to break her opponent's serve.
The American player then added some precise hitting in the second game to lead already 2-0. On the other hand, Sabalenka continued to struggle with her serving.
1-3 down, she committed yet another double fault, which gifted her opponent another break point. Keys didn't miss again and led already 4-1. The 2017 US Open runner-up then played a perfect game on her serve, leading already 5-1.
Up until that point, Keys was an overwhelmingly better player, and Sabalenka was clearly frustrated, not knowing what to do to challenge the 19th seed, who was clearly having her day.
But Keys also felt some nerves. When serving for the set at 5-2, she made four unforced errors, practically giving the top seed one break back. However, Sabalenka's serving struggles continued.
At 30-all in the next game, she again hit a double fault, and Keys converted her break point, which was also a set point this time, to win the opening set of the match 6-3.
But Sabalenka came to fight, and she fought in the second set. Every game was a battle for every point, and most of the games could have gone either way. There was very little between the players.
Ultimately, when it mattered, Sabalenka was the better player in the decisive moments in the second set, and she was able to break her opponent's serve twice as a result. Thanks to that, she won the second set 6-2 to force the decider.
Keys was in trouble already in the third game of the third set, falling behind 0-30 on her serve. However, she was able to win four points in a row and avoid facing break points.
Both players knew what was at stake, so it wasn't a surprise that the third set was the most dramatic. At 4-4, there were still no break points seen in the entire set, as the balls changed the last time, and it was a sprint to the finish line.
At 5-5, Sabalenka led 30-15 on Keys' serve, and she was closer to the trophy than ever before in this match. But the American player hit some out-of-this-world winners to hold her serve and lead 6-5, securing a tie-break at worst.
Keys continued hitting one sensational winner after another in the next game, and ultimately, she didn't even need a tie-break, as she broke Sabalenka's serve to win the match 6-3, 2-6, 7-5.
At 29, Keys won her first Grand Slam title, getting a chance to lift The Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup after beating the WTA World No. 1 player.
