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Keys triumphed after a Herculean three-set battle of 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, that ultimately ended with the World No.19 ousting the three-time Grand Slam winner.
Madison Keys with the Australian Open trophy (AP)
American Madison Keys defeated defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in a three-set thriller to win the 2025 Australian Open, her first-ever career Grand Slam, on Saturday.
Keys triumphed after a Herculean three-set battle of 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, that ultimately ended with the World No.19 ultimately ousting the three-time Grand Slam winner.
Sabalenka, who had cruised to the finals, was searching for her fourth Grand Slam title, while the hungry American Keys, who dismantled Open favorite Iga Swaitek in the semis, had her eyes set on her first-ever Open title win.
Keys and Sabalenka had met five times previously, with the Belarusian winning four, most recently on Beijing’s hard courts last year. Keys’s sole win came on grass in Berlin in 2021.
With both players coming into the final on a hot 11-game winning streak each, Keys needed to notch the performance of her lifetime to oust the World No. 1, which is exactly what she would set out to do.
Despite all expectations, the World No.19 started on a hot note, taking the fight to Sabalenka by getting off to an early 3-1 lead.
The three-time Grand Slam champion Sabalenka would try to even the odds, but there would be no stopping Keys, who would pile the misery on her with every game.
Aces and forehands galore, Keys would continue to frustrate Sabalenka. The Belarusian would fight back, snatching two games away from Keys. But, the gritty American would withstand the counterattack and seal the first set 6-3 and get off to a dream start in her first-ever Open final.
With her back against the wall, Sabalenka would come out refreshed for the second set, hungry to let her championship quality shine.
A motivated Keys though would not let the World No.1 get going easily, pushing Sabalenka to three deuces before nabbing the first game of the second set away from the Belarusian.
The frustration would continue to boil over for the defending champion, who would throw everything at Keys — smashes, aces and returns — to break the rhythm of the zoned-in American.
Eventually, Sabalenka would chip away at the resilient American, building up a 3-1 lead in the second set as the Belarusian regained control.
The defending champion would kick into another gear, pulling off dropshots and massive forehand returns, to dole out some of Keys’ own treatment to the American and seal the second set comfortably at 6-2 to tie the match at a set apiece.
All that stood in the way of the two women and the Australian Open title was one last set.
Keys would draw first blood, nothcing a perfect first game against Sabalenka to shift the pressure onto the Belarusian, who would respond with a strong game of her own to keep them level-pegging.
Both players would throw haymaker after another, nabbing away a game each back and forth as the final set headed to a nail-biting finish.
Keys would pester Sabalenka with her sensational first serve, while the defending champion would conuter with her unstoppable second serve returns, as both finalists kept each other on their toes.
Neither player would cave, taking away the games they held first serve in, with the set ultimately coming to a standstill at 5-5 each.
With two games needed to seal the deal, Keys would find her breakthrough, winning the 11th game of the set to take the lead.
With the title on the line, Sabalenka would falter in the very last game, as Keys would break the first serve of the defending champion to take the slender 30-15 lead, one that Keys would capitalise on to seal the deal and win the set 7-5, to clinch her first-ever Grand Slam.
