Madison Keys Upsets No. 1-Ranked Aryna Sabalenka to Win Australian Open
American tennis star Madison Keys upset No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday to win the Australian Open, her first-ever Grand Slam tournament. The 29-year-old Keys won the tightly contested match 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, finishing with just one more point won than Sabalenka overall.
This was the second time in Keys’ career that she had a chance at a major title, her last being a 6-3, 6-0 loss to fellow countrywoman Sloane Stephens in the 2017 US Open. Prior to this tournament, Keys had high expectations for herself in her tennis career but began to accept the fact that she might never win a Grand Slam title.
“I finally got to the point where I was proud of myself and proud of my career, with or without a Grand Slam,” Keys said. “I finally got to the point where I was OK if it didn’t happen. I didn’t need it to feel like I had a good career or that I deserved to be talked about as a great tennis player.”
Keys’ upset victory was significant, as she also took down No. 2-ranked Iga Świątek in the semifinals, becoming the first woman since Serena Williams in 2005 to defeat both of the WTA’s top two players at Melbourne Park. This win gave Keys the confidence to take on and defeat Sabalenka.
With this victory, Keys becomes the third woman in the Open Era to win the Australian Open with a three-set victory, after Chris O’Neil in 1978 and Kim Clijsters in 2011.
