Australian Open: Madison Keys upsets defending champ Aryna Sabaleka in women’s final
Keys didn’t break stride. Didn’t stop to stare. That bit of hardware then was placed near the net for the pre-match coin toss, close as can be to where the American stood. Close enough to touch. Close enough to feel real. Also right there was her opponent, No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka, the two-time defending champion at Melbourne Park, who would not make things easy on this cool, breezy evening.
When Madison Keys stepped into Rod Laver Arena at 7:37 p.m. on Saturday night ahead of the Australian Open final, she strode right past the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup, the trophy that goes to the women’s champion and was placed on a pedestal near the entrance to the court.
Keys of therapy in tennis
It was only after accepting she might never capture a Slam title, and would be fine with that — a change that came after years of therapy — that Keys actually got there.
Exactly 2 and a half hours — and one 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 victory over Sabalenka — later, there was Keys, smiling the widest smile while holding that silver trophy with both hands, a Grand Slam champion for the first time at age 29. Keys was considered a future star before she was a teen, and this was her second chance to play for a major title: The first ended in a lopsided loss at the 2017 U.S. Open, an experience that taught her she would need to be able to play through nerves.
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