MELBOURNE – Against all odds, Madison Keys, ranked 14th in the world, wins the Australian Open title and stops Aryna Sabalenka, ranked second in the world and defending champion of the tournament until today, from becoming a legend. It is the first Grand Slam for the American, eight years after the only final of a major tournament she had played. The comeback was long, but the reward was worth it.
If Keys had nothing to lose, for Sabalenka it was the opposite. And it showed. The pressure of becoming the sixth woman in the Open Era to win three Australian Opens in a row was a heavy burden for the Belarusian, who, prey to the context and a brilliant player, was ousted from her Melbournian monarchy after 20 matches and 740 days.
Tense, with less power and obfuscated every time the American connected a winner or one of those repeat shots, the Belarusian said goodbye to the Australian dream in a surprising, unexpected way, because during the two weeks of the tournament, she was always the favorite. Her 2024 dominator, the number one ranking and experience were in her favor.
A totally different scenario than the one with which Madison Keys arrived in Melbourne. Without quarterfinals in any major last year and with her only Grand Slam final, played and lost in 2017, the American did not appear on the map of the favorites.
But she quietly built up a perfect tournament: in the third round she eliminated Danielle Collins, rankeed 11th in the world, while in the round of 16 she knocked out Elena Rybakina, ranked sixth and a 2023 finalist. The great assault awaited her in the semifinals, when in a duel of more than 2 hours and 30 minutes, she eliminated the world number two and five-time Grand Slam champion, Iga Swiatek, in the third set supertiebreak.
Madison Keys walks over to her husband & coach Bjorn Fratangelo after winning her first Grand Slam at the Australian Open
They hug each other, in awe of what they’ve done this week
They just got married in November
So much love between these two 🥹
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) January 25, 2025
With her confidence sky-high and the painful experience of the 2017 US Open, where she lost the final 3-6, 0-6 to Sloane Stephens, as a forced apprenticeship, the world 14 was clear on how to go out and play this final. “I’ve thought about that final a lot these past eight years. I was consumed by nerves, timing and opportunity…I’ve done a lot of work to get rid of my nerves. I learned to be okay in the uncomfortable moments and I’m probably uncomfortable 99% of the time,” she said pre-match.
A hostile scenario that appeared in the second set and from which she was able to recover. She lost 2-6 without that stellar game, but was not paralyzed by her past. She endured the nerves and the game of a Sabalenka who grew, but ended up breaking when she was 5-6 and serving in the third set. The most painful end for the champion who was one step away from being a legend. The sweetest outcome for the new queen of Australia.