New Delhi: American 19th seed Madison Keys defeated two-time champion Aryna Sabalenka in the Australian Open final to clinch her maiden Grand Slam at Melbourne Park on Saturday, January 25. She beat World No.1 Sabalenka by 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 in the women’s singles final. Sabalenka was the favourite leading into the final, as she was aiming for her third consecutive Australian Open title. The World No.1 tennis star won the title in 2023 and 2024 and was in line to become the first woman since 1997-99 to win three back-to-back titles. Martina Hingis last achieved this milestone but Keys stunned Sabalenka in the final.
The 19th seed has had a brilliant campaign in the Australian Open. She beat four top 10 seeds in her campaign with Sabalenka being the fourth. The 29-year-old American beat 10th seed Danielle Collins in the third round and sixth seed Elena Rybakina in the round of 16 match. She defeated World No.2 Iga Swiatek in the semifinal and qualified for the final.
Keys broke Sabalenka’s serve four times while the world no.1 could break Keys three times in the game. The American started with a break in the opening set and then backed that up with a hold to her serve and took a 2-0 lead. She broke Sabalenka again to go 4-1 up before holding her serve to stay 5-1 ahead. She took the opening set by 6-3. The World No.1 took a little time-out after the first set and made a comeback in the second set. She broke Keys two times in the second set and took it 6-2 to force a decider. However, the 19th seed kept her nerves in the third set and won it by 7-5.
‘I didn’t want to have any sort of regret’: Madison Keys
After the match, Keys revealed her mantra which kept her motivated during the final and said that she just kept saying be brave and go for it and kept repeating that. She further said that her goal was to be proud of herself, no matter whether she won or lost.
“I went after it, every single point. And if I missed it and I just didn’t execute, I could live with that. I didn’t want to have any sort of regret that I was passive and I missed. (Then) it could have been something where I thought: I should have done something else” Keys said in an interview with the Associated Press.
American 19th seed Madison Keys beat two-time champion Aryna Sabalenka in the Australian Open final to clinch her maiden Grand Slam at Melbourne Park on Saturday, January 25. Tennis Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
