Keys dethrones Sabalenka to win Australian Open 2025
It was time for the grand final of the Australian Open in the women's draw. World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka challenged Madison Keys, who will return to the top 10 at the end of the tournament.
Both players have won a title prior to the start of the tournament (Brisbane for Sabalenka, Adelaide for Keys), and both are confident going into the tournament.
The first set set the tone for the match. Keys, who made a perfect start to her final, neutralized Sabalenka powerfully, multiplying her winning points against the Belarusian, who took a set to find her rhythm.
Despite breaking at 5-2, Keys took her opponent's serve in her stride to win the first set, which she dominated.
At the start of the second set, however, Keys seemed to be a little more out of sorts physically, and Sabalenka didn't need much more to break quickly in the second set.
Tactically better, the two-time title-holder found the resources to equalize.
The third set was a real battle. Sabalenka managed to cause her opponent problems on her serve, but never managed to take the lead.
Intermittently, the American, who was increasingly attacked on the return, still managed to serve some big first shots at crucial moments.
The turning point of the match came at 5 games to 30 in the third set, when Keys hit two forehand winners that allowed her to accelerate in the final game.
Aggressive as she had been at the start of the match, Madison Keys finished with a final forehand cross-court winner to claim the first Grand Slam title of her career at the age of 29 (6-3, 2-6, 7-5).
More than seven years after her only previous Major final at the 2017 US Open, Madison Keys can raise her arms.
She has won the biggest title of her career, ending the reign of Aryna Sabalenka, who won the title in 2023 and 2024, and who was on a 20-match winning streak in Melbourne.
Martina Hingis remains the last player to have won the Australian Open three times in a row, in 1997, 1998 and 1999.
Keys, who will be ranked 7th in the world on Monday, eliminated Ann Li, Ruse, Collins, Rybakina, Svitolina, Swiatek (saving a match point) and Sabalenka on her way to a three-set victory in all her matches with the exception of her first round match against Li and her third against Collins.
She also became the first player to win a Grand Slam by beating the world's top two players in the same tournament since Svetlana Kuznetsova at Roland-Garros in 2009.
Australian Open 
