American Madison Keys broke through as a youngster, but in Grand Slam contexts, the final loss in the 2017 US Open was for a long time the 29-year-old's greatest achievement.
Now she can call herself a Grand Slam champion. With the numbers 6–3, 2–6, 7–5, Keys defeated world number one and reigning champion Aryna Sabalenka in the final in Melbourne.
"Guaranteed to cry"
I hope you have mercy on me, I'm guaranteed to start crying, says Keys during the victory interview.
I've wanted this for so long and I've been in a Grand Slam final where I didn't succeed. I never knew if I'd get the chance again, she says as tears start streaming down her cheeks.
Keys, who was ranked 20th in the world before the tournament in Australia, thanks her team for always believing in her.
Last year was tough with so many tough injuries, she says and thanks especially her husband Bjorn Fratangelo, who has also been her coach since 2023.
The decisive set was a thriller. The players held their serves all the way until Keys broke the three-time Grand Slam winner Sabalenka's serve to 7–5 in the decisive set.
If Sabalenka, who also won the US Open last year, had won, the Belarusian would have become the first woman to win the Australian Open three years in a row since Martina Hingis, Switzerland, achieved the feat in 1997–1999.
Sabalenka was unrecognizable in the first set, while Madison Keys shone.
The American broke the Belarusian's serve twice to take a 4–1 lead. Keys could then also break through to victory with 6–3 in a set where Sabalenka only got 64 percent of her first serves in.
Role reversal
In the second set, the roles were reversed. Sabalenka broke Keys' serve twice and could via 6–2 in the set take the final to a decisive third set.
Sabalenka raised her game even more when it was all to be decided, but so did Keys. At 6–5, the 29-year-old got two match points in Sabalenka's serve.
The Belarusian saved the first match point, but not the second, and the upset was a fact.
On her way there, Keys knocked out, among others, world number two Iga Swiatek, Poland, and number seven Jelena Rybakina, Kazakhstan.
