Melbourne Park was supposed to belong to top seed Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday. The world No.1 Belarusian was eyeing a third straight title at the Australian Open and was the overwhelming favourite going into the final.
But between her and a three-peat stood a determined Madison Keys.
The 29-year-old American ripped up the script with an inspired performance to dethrone Sabalenka and claim her first grand slam title over seven years after losing in her first major final.
Keys’ 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 win ended Sabalenka’s bid to become the first woman to capture three straight Melbourne Park titles since Martina Hingis did it from 1997 to 1999. It also ended her 20-match winning streak at the tournament.
Victory also made Keys the fourth-oldest first-time grand slam champion in the professional era, behind Flavia Pennetta, Ann Jones and Francesca Schiavone. “Okay bear with me I’m absolutely going to cry,” Keys said as she cradled the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup. “There’s no way I get through this in tears ... Congrats Aryna, unbelievable playing, I’m glad I finally got you back.
“I always feel so at home here. I made my very first Grand Slam semi-final in Melbourne, to now have won my first final in the same place means the absolute world to me.”
What brought about this change in her game that has made 2025 already so special?
It was a change that she made on the advice of coach and husband Bjorn Frataneglo. She emulated none other than Roger Federer by changing the racquet.
Federer had changed to a bigger racquet head before winning the Australian Open in 2017. Keys decided to make a bold equipment change of her own. The American switched from Wilson to Yonex at the start of the Aussie summer, and the results have been incredible.
She is still unbeaten in 2025, winning the Adelaide International and following it up with seven-straight victories to win the Australian Open title. She had admitted on Friday that she knew very little about racquets and string tension before her husband convinced her to switch things up.
The only other time she has played in a grand slam final was at the 2017 US Open when she fell to compatriot Sloane Stephens.
She had lost to Sabalenka in the US Open semi-final in 2023 after taking the first set 6-0 and serving for the match in the third. And last year she was forced to quit with a hamstring injury while leading eventual runner-up Jasmine Paolini 5-2 in the fourth round of Wimbledon.
She missed the Paris Olympics too and had crashed out in the third round of the US Open last September. And that was the catalyst for her decision to make the change to her equipment. And that move has proven to be a gamechanger.
“Obviously I’m at the later point of my career. It just kind of felt like, ‘Why not?’ However many more years I have, I would be be willing to adapt and be a little bit more open to change,” she had said.
Keys explained how the bigger racquet head has suited her game. “I feel like I’m able to kind of go for things a little bit more, and have the ability to control them a little bit more,” she said.
After saving a match point against World No.2 Iga Swiatek in Thursday night’s semi-finals, Keys admitted she feared her best tennis might have been behind her. But Saturday was a different story.
Sabalenka made a couple of double faults to drop serve in the opening game and looked slightly off colour in the early exchanges as Keys heaped pressure on the top seed with a dipping crosscourt winner en route to a double break.
The 19th seed rode her luck after a net cord winner and went ahead 5-1 in 20 minutes, before conceding a break with a wayward backhand, but Sabalenka gifted her opponent a set point with her fourth double fault. Keys was hitting much harder than her opponent on both flanks.
Both players relied on their powerful serves and shot-making to remain level until 5-5 in the decider but there was one final momentum shift as Keys produced blistering winners and the biggest triumph of her career. She was overcome by emotion and shed tears with her team that included Fratangelo in the stands, while Sabalenka smashed her racket and covered her face with a towel and sobbed.
Keys is the first player to claim the trophy by defeating the world No.1 and 2 at a major since Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova at the 2009 French Open and the first at Melbourne Park since compatriot Serena Williams 20 years ago.
Written with inputs from Reuters, AP/PTI