Madison Keys stuns peak seed Aryna Sabalenka to win Australian Open

Madison Keys — the usage of a mixture of forged serves, energy and protection — disillusioned two-time protecting champion and peak seed Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 to win the Australian Open on Saturday, giving the 29-year-old American her first Grand Slam name in 46 tries.

Keys, the No. 19 seed, seemed in her first primary semifinal 10 years in the past in Melbourne, shedding to eventual champion Serena Williams in immediately units. Since then, she’d performed in 5 Grand Slam singles semis, attaining the finals simplest on the 2017 U.S. Open, the place she misplaced 6-3, 6-0 to Sloane Stephens.

However on Saturday, she went toe to toe with Sabalenka, who added the 2024 U.S. Open name to her two Australian Open championships. The gamers have been shut statistically, together with winners to unforced mistakes — 29 and 33 for Sabalenka to 29 and 31 for Keys. And the brand new champ received 92 overall issues to 91 for Sabalenka.

And there used to be no larger level than the overall one, when Keys cashed in the second one of her event issues to damage Sabalenka’s serve for the fourth time on Saturday to win. And when her forehand winner resulted in championship level, Keys set free a scream of pleasure.

“I simply saved telling myself, ‘Be courageous, opt for it, simply roughly lay all of it out at the line.’ At that time, it doesn’t matter what occurs, if I do this, then I will be pleased with myself. It simply made it just a little bit more straightforward,” Keys mentioned in her post-match information convention.

Sabalenka got here into the event 11-0 in 2025, successful a warm-up event in Brisbane. And she or he held a 4-1 head-to-head lead in opposition to Keys in her profession.

However Keys put all of that out of her thoughts. In spite of everything, she’d already completed such a lot on this fortnight, beginning with the defeat of 3 top-10 seeds — Iga Swiatek, Danielle Collins and Elena Rybakina — prior to going through the fourth. The one lady to do that in the past in a significant used to be Australian Evonne Goolagong Cawley, who did it in 1980 at Wimbledon.

On how one can the championship, Keys additionally needed to win 5 fits in 3 units, which she mentioned helped her.

“There used to be a self assurance in perhaps now not enjoying fits amazingly from begin to end and having some dips right here and there,” she mentioned. “However having the ability to roughly finish on a truly top notice each and every time and determine the right way to get again in fits or the right way to shut out a event truly neatly. I simply slowly began proceeding to construct the boldness. I by no means truly were given forward of myself in each and every spherical. I by no means as soon as idea in regards to the subsequent spherical till I used to be in truth there.”

And she or he performed with a brand new mindset.

“I truly felt like going into each and every event that if I may simply attempt to pass out, play how I sought after to play, I used to be truly simply going to offer myself the chance to check out to win the event,” Keys mentioned. “I felt like now not stressing about issues that I could not regulate, I simply felt like I used to be in a position to play just a little bit extra loose.”

She changed into the fourth-oldest first-time primary winner within the Open Generation. She is the primary lady to overcome each the No. 1 and No. 2 gamers on the earth within the ultimate two rounds of a significant since Venus Williams did it at Wimbledon in 2005.

Keys eradicated Swiatek, of Poland, within the semifinal.

When the brand new ratings pop out on Monday, Keys will tie her profession top at No. 7.

And Sabalenka, from Belarus, mentioned Keys earned the event on Saturday.

“If she will be able to play persistently like that, it is not a lot you’ll be able to do,” Sabalenka mentioned. “I know the way to play in opposition to her, however on this event I could not truly do my stuff.

“She simply performed improbable. It kind of feels like she used to be overhitting the whole thing. The depths of the balls have been truly loopy. I used to be making an attempt my very best. Clearly did not paintings neatly.”

–Box Stage Media