Australian Open: Keys Upsets Sabalenka For First Grand Slam Title

Madison Keys (photo: Jürgen Hasenkopf)

MELBOURNE/WASHINGTON, January 25, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

Madison Keys did the improbable. She upset two-time Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka to win her first Grand Slam title at age 29 Saturday night. It was a long-awaited major triumph.

For the new champion, it was an evening of sweet tears mixed with laughter and joy – a night for Keys to remember for a lifetime. For the dethroned, in a moment of frustration, it was the smashing of a tennis racquet that Sabalenka felt let her down at the end.

It all added up to Keys of the United States upsetting Sabalenka from Belarus, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, in two hours and two minutes on Rod Laver Arena to lift the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup, presented to her by Australian Hall of Fame great Evonne Goolagong Cawley.

Once Keys won match point on her second try, in which she broke Sabalenka with a forehand winner that completed a dramatic six-shot rally, she covered her face with her hands. Then, Keys raised her arms in celebration. Before she reached her chair, where she could be seen laughing at what she had just accomplished, Keys went and hugged her husband and coach, Bjorn Fratangelo, and the rest of her team. It contrasted with Sabalenka, who was seen burying her head in a white towel.

“OK, bear with me, I’m absolutely going to cry,” Keys said at the beginning of her trophy acceptance speech. “There’s no way I’m going to get through this without tears. So, sorry in advance.

“Aryna, unbelievable playing. I’m glad I finally got you back,” she added, breaking the tension while drawing a smile from Sabalenka as well as laughter from the crowd. “Unbelievable tennis. You’re always so tough to play, and we always have the craziest matches. So, congratulations to you and your team for another amazing Grand Slam run. …

“I made my first Grand Slam semifinal here in Melbourne,” Keys added, alluding back to 2015 when she lost in straight sets to Serena Williams, “so to now have won my first Grand Slam in the same place means the absolute world to me.”

In the run up to winning her first Grand Slam title in just her second major final – and first in almost eight years after losing the 2017 US Open final to fellow American Sloane Stephens – Keys, ranked 14th and seeded 19th at the AO, upset No. 7-ranked Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, defeated No. 28 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, beat World No. 2 Iga Swiatek of Poland – saving a match point – and, finally, overcame the World No. 1 Sabalenka. All of those victories were accomplished in three sets. Keys became the first woman since Serena Williams in 2005 to defeat both of the WTA’s Top 2 players at Melbourne Park.

The three-time major champion Sabalenka arrived at the title match on a 20-match winning streak at Melbourne Park and with an 11-0 win-loss record in 2025 after winning the Brisbane International title three weeks ago. Sabalenka owned a 4-1 head-to-head advantage over Keys that included a come-from-behind three-set win in the 2023 US Open semifinals, in which Keys was up a set and a break 5-3 in the second and up a break 4-2 in the third set and was unable to close out the match.

By defeating Sabalenka this time, Keys spoiled what would have the Belarusian’s third straight AO title – a feat that was last accomplished by Martina Hingis of Switzerland from 1997-99 – and her fourth major crown. When the new WTA Rankings are updated on Monday, Keys will rise to World No. 7, tying her career-high, which she first achieved in October 2016. Sabalenka will remain at No. 1.

“There definitely was a bit of frustration because I was so close to achieve something crazy,” Sabalenka said in her post-match news conference. “When you’re out there, you’re fighting, but it seems like everything is going not the way you really want it to go.

“It’s OK. I mean, I’m the one who knows that after tough losses, there is good wins. So I’ll keep working and make sure that next time, if I’ll be in this situation, I’ll play definitely better.”

From the outset, Keys outhit the big-hitting Sabalenka from the baseline. By the end, she had compiled 29 winners – 11 of them in the opening set – and outpointed her opponent 92-91. She won 40 of her 58 service points and won nine more points on her return than Sabalenka. Keys converted four of nine break points – three of the service breaks were in the first set – and saved five of the eight she faced. Although she committed 31 unforced errors, she took advantage of the 33 unforced errors made by a frustrated Sabalenka, including 13 in the first set. Sabalenka hit 29 winners. It all added up in Keys’s favor.

“I almost felt like I was trying to beat her to it,” Keys said during her champion’s news conference, with her trophy next to her and while enjoying a glass of champagne. “If I wasn’t going to go for it, I knew she was going to. It really just pushed me to kind of thread the needle a little bit more. I just kept telling myself, ‘Be brave, go for it, just kind of lay it all out on the line.’ At that point, no matter what happens, if I do that, then I can be proud of myself. It just made it a little bit easier.”

Keys also extended her current winning streak to 12, which is the longest of her career, after winning the Adelaide title two weeks ago. Her season win-loss record improved to 14-1, with her only setback coming in the first week of 2025 at the Auckland quarterfinals to eventual champion Clara Tauson.

Among the other accolades for Keys, she is the oldest woman to become a first-time major champion since Italy’s Flavia Pennetta won the 2015 US Open at 33. This was also the 46th Grand Slam appearance for Keys, which ranks as the third-most majors played before winning a trophy in the Open Era, putting her behind Pennetta (49) and Maion Bartoli of France (47), when she won the Wimbledon Championships in 2013.

“I have wanted this for so long, and I have been in one other Grand Slam final and it did not go my way,” Keys said during the trophy presentation. “I didn’t know if I was ever going to be able to get back to this position to try to win a trophy, again. My team believes in me every step of the way. So thank you so much.”

Heliovaara and Patten win AO men’s doubles title

After winning their first major title at Wimbledon last summer, Harri Heliovaara of Finland and Henry Patten of Great Britain, captured their second major as a team early Sunday morning by winning the Australian Open men’s doubles title. The sixth-seeded Finnish/British duo defeated No. 3 seeds Simon Bolelli and Andreas Vavassori of Italy, 6-7 (16), 7-6 (5), 6-3 in three hours and four minutes. The match ended at 1:43 a.m. local time.

After they squandered 10 set points during the 87-minute opening set, Heliovaar and Patten rallied in the next two sets to pull out the victory. It ended a nine-match wining streak by Bolelli and Vavassori, last year’s AO runners-up, who won the title at Adelaide earlier this month.

“What an evening,” Patten said  during the trophy presentation. “What an amazing match. For Harri, what a journey we’ve been on. It’s truly been special so let’s keep it going.”

Then, Heliovaara added: “Could I have done it without you, Henry? I don’t think so. It’s a team sport in doubles. The most important thing is to find yourself a good partner and I’ve succeeded in that. Not only on the tennis court, we are such good friends. I think that’s what keeps us close together on the court and brings us titles like this.”

Heliovaara became the first Finnish player to win multiple Grand Slam men’s doubles titles, moving ahead of Henri Kontinen, who won the AO men’s doubles title with John Peers of Australia in 2017. Patten is the fourth British player in the Open Era to win multiple major men’s doubles titles after Jamie Murray, Joe Salisbury and Roger Taylor.

Heliovaara and Patten combined to serve 11 aces, including one by Patten on match point. They hit 48 winners and outpointed the Italian pair 129-119.

Bernet, Sonobe win AO junior singles titles

Henry Bernet celebrated his 18th birthday by becoming the first player from Switzerland to win a junior singles title in Melbourne. Bernet defeated American Benjamin Willwerth, 6-3, 6-4, in 71 minutes on Rod Laver Arena Saturday afternoon.

Bernet, who comes from the same Basel club as Swiss great Roger Federer, said he understands comparisons to the tennis icon – like Federer, he also sports a one-fisted backhand – but noted in his post-match news conference: “I’m just trying to develop myself, make my own journey. But obviously there’s always going to be some comparisons. That’s not a problem for me. It’s a motivation, too. Maybe I just try to focus on my own journey.”

Meanwhile, Wakana Sonobe of Japan became the first Japanese player to win the AO girls’ singles title. The 17-year-old needed just 54 minutes to defeat American doubles champion Kristina Penickova, 6-0, 6-1, on Rod Laver Arena. Her win came a day after she upset No. 1 seed Emerson Jones of Australia in the semifinal round.

“That was not easy for me today,” Sinobe said afterward of Penickova. “She’s a good player, she’s so strong, powerful, so I was trying to hit hard and aggressive. That works.

“I’m going to play more pro tournaments, and I want to get a pro title this year.”

Schroeder wins fourth straight AO quad wheelchair title

Sam Schroeder of the Netherlands won his fourth consecutive Australian Open quad wheelchair title after defeating fellow Dutchman Niels Vink, 7-6 (7), 7-5, in an hour and 45 minutes on Kia Arena Saturday afternoon.

“I think it’s very special for me to once again having won a tournament,” Schroeder said. “After the first one, you want the second one. Unbelievable to have won the fourth one. It’s really crazy when I think about it.”

In other wheelchair finals:

Yui Kamiji of Japan defeated 2013 AO champ Aniek van Koot of the Netherlands, 6-2, 6-2, to win the women’s singles final. It was Kamiji’s ninth major title overall and third at Melbourne.

• Great Britain’s Alfie Hewett won his second AO title as he defeated Tokito Oda of Japan, 6-4, 6-4, to win the men’s singles final. It was Hewett’s 10th major title.

• No. 1 seed Vitoria Miranda of Brazil rallied to defeat Sabina Czauz of the United States, 0-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4), to win the girls’ singles title, the first time that junior wheelchair competition has been part of the AO.

• Top-seeded American Charlie Cooper defeated Alexander Lantermann of Belgium, 6-2, 6-2, to win the first AO boys’ title.

Saturday’s Australian Open results

Sunday’s Australian Open order of play

By the numbers

Madison Keys is the fourth player this decade to beat the World No. 1 and World No. 2 in the same tournament, and the first since Elena Rybakina achieved the feat at Indian Wells in 2023. She is the first to do so at a Grand Slam since Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Serena Williams and Dinara Safina in the quarterfinals and final, respectively, at Roland-Garros in 2009.

“Quotable …”

“It feels absolutely amazing. We have put in so much work. I didn’t know if I was going to be back in this position, so to be here and to work so hard, it all paid off. It feels incredible.”

– New Australian Open champion Madison Keys, during a post-match interview with ESPN, shortly after winning her first Grand Slam title.