In a thrilling display of tennis prowess, American Madison Keys stunned world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to claim her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open Final Saturday, breaking the Belarusian’s remarkable 20-match winning streak in Melbourne.
Keys, the 19th seed, secured a dramatic victory with a stunning forehand winner on her second match point, clinching the championship in two hours and two minutes. The win marks the biggest triumph of her career and extends her current winning streak to 12 matches.
The 29-year-old’s victory is historic in multiple ways. She becomes the oldest player since 1975 to defeat the world No. 1 and No. 2 players in the semi-finals and final Grand Slam tournament. Her path to the title was nothing short of extraordinary, defeating a series of top-ranked players, including Danielle Collins, Elena Rybakina, Elina Svitolina, and world No. 2 Iga Swiatek.
Keys’s triumph is particularly sweet and will erase memories of her painful first Grand Slam final in 2017. This victory will see her rise to seventh in the WTA rankings when the new list is published on Monday.
“Firstly bear with me, there is no way I get through this without tears,” Keys said as she began her victory speech.
“Thank you to everyone who came out and cheered the last two weeks. I always feel so at home here. I made my first Slam semi-final here, so now to have won my first Grand Slam here means so much to me.
“Thank you to my team … and this is where I’m going to cry. I have wanted this for so long. I have been to one other Grand Slam final, and it did not go my way, and I didn’t know if I’d ever get back to this position to try and win a trophy again.
“But my team believed in me every step of the way, so thank you so much.”
Adding to the significance of her win, Keys is the first player to win a Women’s Singles Grand Slam title after saving a match point since Iga Swiatek at Roland Garros in 2024 and the first to do so at the Australian Open since Naomi Osaka in 2021. She is also the first player in the Open Era to win the Australian Open title, playing only three-set matches from the fourth round onwards.
The win represents a landmark moment in Keys’s career, effectively ending Sabalenka’s bid for a historic three-peat in Melbourne and establishing herself as a formidable force in women’s tennis.
After the match, Sabalenka was seen hitting her racket, after which she went to her corner, covered her face with a white towel, and cried.
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