Madison Keys produced her best tennis to start the New Year in a major way.
Keys denied Aryna Sabalenka from the Australian Open three-peat. Keys, the 19th seed, entered her match against two-time reigning champion Sabalenka as a significant underdog. However, she delivered an exceptional performance, securing a victory with scores of 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 after 2 hours and 2 minutes of play.
“I am proud of myself to get back to this position and be able to play the way that I played and finished on a strong note I am really proud of myself,” Keys said. “I didn’t always believe I can get back to this point, to be able to do it and win means the world to me.”
At 29, Keys is recognized as the second-oldest first-time women’s winner of the tournament, following China’s Li Na, who achieved her victory at 31 in 2014.
Keys was motivated to begin playing tennis after observing Venus Williams’ performance at Wimbledon on television.
“Everything happens for a reason, for me specifically, I had to go through some tough things,” Keys said. “It forced me to look at myself in the mirror a bit, and work on the internal pressure that I was putting on myself. At a young age, I felt if I never won a Grand Slam, I would not have lived up to what people thought I should have been. It was a heavy burden to carry around. I got to the point where I was proud of myself and proud of my career, with or without a Grand Slam. I was okay if it didn’t happen; I didn’t need it to feel like I had a good career or talked about like a great tennis player. Letting go of that internal talk that I had gave me the ability to actually play good tennis is win a Grand Slam.”
Keys turned professional on her 14th birthday, quickly establishing herself as one of the youngest players to achieve victory in a WTA Tour level match just a few months later. In 2013, at the age of 17, she made her debut in the top 100 of the WTA rankings. Her first significant achievement in a major tournament came in early 2015 when she reached the semifinals of the Australian Open as a teenager.
The American player began strongly against Sabalenka, who encountered difficulties with her serve. Two double faults contributed to Keys securing the opening game, allowing her to take a 2-0 lead.
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Although Sabalenka encountered challenges with her serve, Keys excelled in her performance. Over the course of two service games, she successfully executed all but one of her first serves, applying significant pressure on Sabalenka. Consequently, Sabalenka was unable to regain her footing and was broken again, resulting in a 4-1 lead for Keys.
Sabalenka’s performance when recovering from a set down in Grand Slam tournaments has been exceptional. Prior to the final, her record stood at an impressive 10 wins and 1 loss in majors after losing the first set, significantly surpassing the next-best player during this period, Iga Swiatek, who had a record of 6 wins and 5 losses.
There was no stopping Keys.
“I kept telling myself to be brave, go for it, just lay it all out on the line,” Keys added. “No matter what happens, if I can do that, I can be proud of myself, and it made it easier.”
After exchanging 11 holds and facing a tiebreaker, the pivotal moment of the third set—and the match—arrived when Sabalenka found herself down 0-15 while serving to remain in the tournament at 5-6. Following an off-balance forehand that sailed long, Sabalenka delivered a wide serve, allowing Keys to unleash a powerful backhand return winner, leaving Sabalenka visibly frustrated.
“She played super aggressive,” Sabalenka said. “It seemed like everything was going her way. I was just trying to put the ball back. Couldn’t really play my aggressive tennis and didn’t feel my serve that well. The return was off. Then, in the second set, I got my rhythm back.
This marks her fifth victory in a three-set match during the tournament, setting a record for the most such wins in a single Australian Open within the Open era. She successfully defeated four top-10 seeds, including Sabalenka, Danielle Collins, Elena Rybakina, and Swiatek, on her journey to claim the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup. This achievement is matched only by Evonne Goolagong, who accomplished a similar feat by defeating four top-10 seeds at Wimbledon in 1980, and presented Keys with her trophy.
“Lots of therapy,” Keys added. “I bought into it, in the past, I would try to go the sports therapy route, where it was all about routine and controlling what you can control. I felt I was good enough at that, but to really start to dig in about what I felt about myself, being honest with myself about it, I didn’t want to be the person that felt like I was really struggling, but I was struggling with it and being honest, getting help, and talking to someone. It was not just about tennis but also how I felt about myself, I was very uncomfortable, and I never liked being uncomfortable. If I had not done that, I would not be sitting here.”
With her recent significant title victory, Keys has risen to No. 7 in the world rankings, equaling her career high from 2016.
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