Madison Keys keys her first grand slam at Australian Open 2025
It was ten years ago when Madison Keys announced herself to the world being a budding talent from the USA at the Australian Open 2015. She reached the semi-final of the tournament, and lost to the eventual champion, Serena Williams. En route, she defeated Venus Williams in the quarter-finals and Petra Kvitova in the R32. She joined the likes of Martina Hingis, Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters, and Amélie Mauresmo to have defeated both the Williams sisters in the same draw.
Fast forward to today, the 29-years-old won her first grand slam at the Australian Open, defeating the defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, who was eyeing the third Australian Open title and a fourth grand slam. She made 46 grand slam appearances before winning a title, close to 47 times for Marion Bartoli and 49 for Flavia Penetta.
Sabalenka has not lost a grand slam match in straight sets since the 2020 US Open, and she could add to this count today only after taking the second set and stretching the match to a decider. Keys broke Sabalenka’s serve in the first game of the match and again in the fifth game to lead 4–1. The first set flew by quickly in 36 minutes, giving Keys a lead of 6–3. The energy was swapped in the second as Sabalenka gave Keys a taste of her own medicine. Keys lost two of her service games while her opponent won five games in a row, and led 5–1, and this game went on for about six minutes, giving three break points to Keys which she failed to convert. Keys took the next game in a double break and later the last game went to Sabalenka to seal the set in a break point.
Pushed to the decider, both women gave the toughest battle to one another. There was a little to separate the two, as Keys left no stone unturned to play Sabalenka’s all-rounder game. Both held to their serves and did not reach deuce on any game, until the ,last one where Sabalenka was serving to stay in the match, saved a championship point but lost the second as Keys hit a forehand winner. Both the players had tearful moments, while Keys smiled along, the world number one smashed her racquet and sobbed in her towel.
Both had a fair share of unforced errors, and there was a certain shift in the first serve percentages too.
Here are the key statistics of the day:
Sabalenka, as playful as ever thanked her team during the trophy ceremony, stood next to the winner’s trophy for a second and said, “It’s ok, I hope I’ll see you next year (giggles and cheers from the crowd),
“Should I say anything to my team? Why are you laughing? As always that’s your fault guys, I don’t wanna see you for the next week, I really hate you. No anyway, thank you very much for everything you are doing for me Blah blah blah (her team smiling and cheering, Sabalenka bursting into laughter again)”
Speaking of teams, Australian Open has invited a special coaches award for this year, and it was given away to Bjorn Fratangelo, Keys’s coach and husband, presented to him by an Australian legend, the 4-time champion at Melbourne, Evonne Goolagong Cawley.
She became emotional while thanking her team and talking about the challenges she had last year, suffering injuries, withdrawing from the tournament last year and not making it to the second round of any grand slam, as she delivered a great acceptance speech at the Rod Laver Arena.
She became the first player to defeat world number one and two to win a grand slam, after Svetlana Kuznetsova did at Roland Garros 2009. Madison brought power to the court with focused precision which served as a spectacle for the crowd. She tasted victory against the best opponent possible, whilst her semi-final victory against Iga Świątek in the semi-final was another roller coaster. That is the story of a third American woman winning her first grand slam in this decade, after Sofia Kenin in 2020 and Coco Gauff in 2023.
