Keys edges Sabalenka in Australian Open final thriller for first Slam title

In 2015, Madison Keys announced herself as a major talent by reaching the Australian Open semifinals as a 19-year-old. Ten years later, the American has become a major champion after defeating no. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 in the Australian Open final to claim her first Grand Slam trophy.

Two-time defending champion Sabalenka had come into the final on a 20-match winning streak at Melbourne Park and with an 11-0 unbeaten record in 2025 after lifting the Brisbane trophy three weeks ago. She had been aiming to become the first woman to win a hat-trick of Australian Open titles since Martina Hingis in 1997-99 and owned a 4-1 head-to-head lead over No.19 seed Keys – including a 0-6 , 7-6(1), 7-6(5) 2023 US Open semifinal heartbreaker.

Keys had also lost her only previous Grand Slam final 6-3, 6-0 to Sloane Stephens at the 2017 US Open. But entering 2025 with a brand new Yonex racquet and a changed service movement, the 29-year-old delivered a bravura performance to overturn the odds. Keys had already become the player with the longest distance between their first two Slam finals in the Open Era, and her victory makes her the fourth-oldest first-time Slam champion in the Open Era.

Here are some other key stats behind Keys’ triumph:

• After saving match point to upset No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek in the semifinals, Keys becomes the 16th player in the Open Era to win a Slam after meeting match point – and the first since Swiatek himself at Roland Garros last year.
• Keys is the fourth player this decade to defeat world no. 1 and world no. 2 in the same tournament, and the first since Elena Rybakina defeated Swiatek and Sabalenka to win Indian Wells 2023. She is the first to do so at a Slam since. Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Serena Williams and Dinara Safina to win the 2009 Roland Garros.
• This tournament marked Keys’ 46th Grand Slam appearance in the main draw. Only two players have made more appearances before winning their first title – Flavia Pennetta with 49 and Marion Bartoli with 47.
• Keys is currently ranked no. 14 and returns to his career high of no. 7 in the PIF WTA rankings on Monday. She last held that position for three weeks in October 2016.
• Keys has extended her winning streak to 12, the longest of her career, after winning the Adelaide title two weeks ago. This final was the first between players who had won a preliminary tournament since the Australian Open moved to its January calendar position in 1987. (In 2015 it was contested between Brisbane champion Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams, who had won the WTA at the 2014 Finals Singapore and did not play a January lead-up in 1985, it was contested in November between Martina Navratilova, who had won Sydney the week before, and Chris Evert, who had won Tokyo two weeks before.)
• Keys is the first player in the Open Era to win the Australian Open title with three-set wins in her last four rounds. She is the fifth to do so in a major after Sue Barker (Roland Garros 1976), Conchita Martínez (Wimbledon 1994), Maria Sharapova (Roland Garros 2014) and Jelena Ostapenko (Roland Garros 2017).

More to come…