New Delhi: The feeling of winning the Australian Open hasn’t yet sunk in for Madison Keys. She defeated World No. 1 and top seed Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 in the final to lift her maiden Grand Slam title.
The American had fought back from a set down to beat No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals and stopped Sabalenka from being the first woman to claim three straight Australian Open titles since Martina Hingis (1997 to 1999).
Keys became the first female tennis player since Serena Williams in 2005 to defeat the top two ranked players in the world on way to victory.
“I feel like I still haven’t quite stopped moving to actually sit there and totally take it in. It’s been a crazy 48 hours. I’m just so happy I finally have one of these,” she said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” show.
“Looking at the draw that I had, it’s very tough — I just felt like every round there was just more and more confidence. I don’t know what kind of flip switched in my head, but all of a sudden I was like, ‘I can do this.’ I actually truly believed that I can absolutely be here on Saturday holding the trophy.”
Delayed success
Keys emerged on top of Sabalenka after a gruelling 2-hour and 2-minute battle at the Rod Laver Arena, notching up 29 winners.
A teen prodigy, the 29-year-old turned professional even before turning 14, but couldn’t reach the heights she was supposed to. A reframed mindset helped her to improve performance.
“It kind of just felt like the opportunity slipped through my fingers a little bit,. I was so close just a few years ago and had just a heartbreaker of a match,” Keys said.
“It was kind of in that moment where you have a lot of doubt, and you think, ‘Am I ever going to be able to get back to a Grand Slam final?’ I really kind of just started to put my head down and do a lot of work on the court and off the court, and here we are now.”
Madison Keys defeated World No. 1 and top seed Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 in the Australian Open final to lift her maiden Grand Slam title. Tennis Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
