American Madison Keys upset top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 to win the 2025 Australian Open. This win gives Keys her first ever Grand Slam title at the age of 29.
Keys immediately got Sabalenka on her back foot by winning the first set, including three breaks of serve, but the two-time reigning Australian Open champion responded with a strong effort in the second set, and it seemed like she was taking control of the match.
That set up a back-and-forth third with Keys dropping in a perfect shot, which froze Sabalenka, for the win and to avoid a championship tiebreak.
Keys is now the fourth-oldest first-time Grand Slam winner, and she made a little more history with this incredible run. With her win over No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the semifinals, Keys became the first player to defeat the top two players in the final two rounds of a Grand Slam since Venus Williams did it at Wimbledon in 2005.
Prior to this match, Keys had only been to one Grand Slam final, where she lost to Sloane Stephens in the 2017 US Open. It’s been a long road getting back to this point for Keys, and she thanked her team for giving her the belief she needed to finally break through.
“I’ve wanted this for so long, and I’ve been in one other Grand Slam Final,” Keys said after the match. “It did not go my way, and I didn’t know if I was ever going to get back to this position to try to win a trophy again. My team believed in me every step of the way, so thank you so much.
“They believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself and helped me every step of the way. Last year was so tough with some really bad injuries, and I didn’t know if I would be here again.”
Sabalenka was going for her third consecutive Australian Open win, and she would have been the first player to accomplish that feat since Martina Hingis from 1996-1999. Instead, in her post-match speech, Sabalenka lightened the mood by cracking some jokes at the expense of her coaches.
“As always, that’s your fault, guys,” Sabalenka said. “I don’t want to see you for the next week. I really hate you. No really, thank you so much for everything you’re doing for me and blah, blah, blah.
“I think we did our best. Madison was just playing incredible everyday. I couldn’t do anything in this match. Next time I play against Madison, I will bring better tennis.”
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