• Source:JND
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Australian Open 2025:  The 30-year-old Madison Keys put up a match-winning performance at the Rod Laver Arena as she created a huge upset during the women's singles summit clash. Keys, who was seeded 19th, had defeated World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka by 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 in a match that went for about two hours and two minutes and thus stopped the reigning champion from winning a historic third Australian Open titles.

Madison Keys was disappointed after losing the US Open summit clash way back in 2017. Then she got the chance to bounce back during her second major final, which she grabbed by both hands and played the best tennis of her life.

Keys had put an end to Sabalebka's dominance at hard courts in Melbourne. This loss had ended Sabalenka's winning streak of 20 matches in this Grand Slam.

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Madison Keys converted her second match point in style as she played a brilliant forehand and moved across the court towards the finish line. After this win, Keys became the fifth American woman to have won the Australian Open after 2000.

She also became the oldest player to have beaten World No. 1 and No. 2 during the semi-final and the summit clash of a Grand Slam since the WTA rankings were published way back in 1975 as per Opta Ace.  Keys had also defeated World No.2 Iga Swiatek during the semi-final.

Nerves for Sabalenka?

Even before the game started, former India tennis player, Sani Mirza had reckoned that Aryna Sabalenka would be under immense pressure, considering she hasn't lost a hard-court Grand Slam final post 2023 US Open. Sabalenka showed that she is a human being and began the summit clash by a double fault and also conceded a break in her first serve.

Keys won the toss and chose to receive and it was a decision that worked in her favour as she got adjusted to the conditions quickly.  And since then, she never looked back. She gave Sabalenka a hard time by playing forehand and backhand sides brilliantly.  She didn't try to overhit her groundstrokes.

Sabalenka's frustration of not being able to control the rallies was quite visible and she was seen struggling. She had committed four double faults and 13 unforeseeable errors during the first set. Sabalenka had got just 64 percent of her first serves and won just 54 percent points in the first serve and got broken twice.

Keys didn't let the momentum get away. Even after conceding a breakback, she stayed calm and won the first set by  6-3.