Madison Keys unlocks her potential to win her first Grand Slam title at Australia Open

Madison Keys had been preordained to be here. One of the youngest-ever match-winner on the WTA Tour at the age of 14, her prodigal rise through the ranks had resulted in a first Grand Slam final the age of 22. That occasion got the better of her, a straight-sets humbling at the 2017 US Open in which she amassed a total of three games.In the almost eight years since, as Keys slipped up and down the rankings and failed to reproduce the same level, questions may have been asked whether she had been a fluke – the archetypal promising American that ended up being more hype than substance, who squandered her only big chance and, even at her best, could not raise her game significantly enough to get another.
With the thrash of one of the many huge inside-out crosscourt forehands that she put past Aryna Sabalenka to clinch Saturday’s thrilling Australian Open final, Keys found vindication.
The 19th seeded American defeated Sabalenka 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 to win her maiden Grand Slam title in her second final after eight years. No player has ever had as long a gap between their first and second Major final.
And this was no fluke either. She beat four of the top 10, and three of the top five, players in the world, including fifth seed Elena Rybakina, second seed Iga Swiatek in the semifinal, and heavy title favourite Sabalenka in the final.
“Okay bear with me I’m absolutely going to cry,” Keys said, with a first Major trophy in hand at the age of 29. “I have wanted this for so long I have been in one other Grand Slam final and it didn’t go my way. I didn’t know if I was going to get to this position every again. But my team believed in me so much… they believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself.”
She became the fifth American woman to lift the women’s singles title in Melbourne Park. She is the fourth-oldest first-time Major winner in Open Era hory. Keys is also the first player since 2009 to beat both top two players in the same Grand Slam tournament.
The big-hitting aggressive baseliner had found a remarkable amount of composure under pressure to clinch the semifinal against Swiatek in the 10-point deciding set tiebreaker. But to do so in a final against a player going for a third successive triumph could induce a whole new level of panic.
Instead it was Sabalenka who started the match tentatively. Coming into the final winning big moments and raising her game when required, her run that saw only one set dropped didn’t tell the full story of a player that was not hitting the ball with the all-encompassing power and precision that has dominated this event since 2022.
The Belarusian was feeling the pressure and quickly went down a couple of breaks in the first set, with Keys striking the ball with the full range of her fluent groundstrokes and serving incredibly well. Once she had sealed the first set with a third break of serve, she was unquestionably in the ascendancy with momentum flowing behind her.
But this is a Grand Slam final, a stage that Sabalenka has made her own in the last few seasons and one that is alien to Keys for much of her career. As Sabalenka stayed true to her baseline game – all power, all the time – fluency returned and she played Keys to her tune effortlessly, fashioning six break points and despite Keys’s near-flawless serving, won two and ran away with the second.
Madison Keys kisses the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup after defeating Aryna Sabalenka in the women’s singles final at the Australian Open. (AP Photo)
The occasion never sullied the quality of the shotmaking on display. In a throwback to Sabalenka’s first Major win in Melbourne against Rybakina in 2022, the two destructive ball strikers exchanged ferocious strikes of the ball, at times hitting winners with needle-like precision simply redirecting pace.
If power from the baseline was proving vital in the first two sets, which both players shared, refusing to blink under pressure would be key in the decider.
The match may have begun with the World No. 1 under pressure but a familiar theme began to emerge – the more experienced, more successful player overwhelming the under-pressure journeywoman.
But just as she had done against Swiatek two days prior, Keys was unmoved the pressure, and simply refused to go away. Every time Sabalenka opened up an opportunity, she was knocked down. The Belarusian even got a break late into the deciding set, but Keys broke right back. The American’s serve was particularly impressive in the final set – she only needed 11 second serves and won points off nine of those.
In a breathless display of all her strengths, up 6-5 in the decider, she would hit three winners and make Sabalenka blink to steal the match from under her.
The disappointment had been evident for the three-time Major champion as she eviscerated her racquet after the match as a stream of tears flew down later. A horic ‘three-peat’ was within reach for the 26-year-old, but when prompted to raise her game another level when it mattered most, she stumbled ever so slightly.
Later, she would be gracious in defeat, and showed her skills with a microphone that have endeared her to fans
“Madison, wow, what a tournament…You’ve been fighting really hard to get this trophy… Congrats to you and your team really well deserved. Enjoy the celebration, enjoy the fun part,” the Belarusian said.
“I don’t want to see you for the next week, I really hate you,” Sabalenka jokingly told her team. “No really, thank you very much for all you’re doing for me, blah blah blah.”
Keys laughed knowingly. She leaves with the trophy after a phenomenal tournament that has re-written her tennis story, perhaps even returning it to it’s original ending.