Madison Keys defeated No. 1 Ariana Sabalenka to win the Australian Open on Saturday, bringing significant joy to a beleaguered American tennis fan who has watched Keys grow from a 14-year-old prodigy to a 29-year-old veteran who Experienced before. His share of Grand Slam disappointments.
This time, though, 19th-seeded Keys played brave and precise tennis when he needed it most, winning 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 for his first major title and Sablanka. denied him his third straight Australian Open.
For Keys, it was a complete 180 from his first Grand Slam final experience at the 2017 US Open when his game never really showed and he lost quickly to his friend Sloane Stephens. This time, Keys took charge early, faced some difficulties in the middle of the match and then broke Sabalenka’s serve to claim her trophy after another with a clutch shot in the third. Lasted with a clutch shot first.
“I’ve wanted this for so long, and I’ve been in one other Grand Slam final and it didn’t go my way. I didn’t know if I’d ever get back to this position and my team was on me every step of the way. Believed. On the way,” Keys said through tears as she held up the trophy. “They believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. Last year was very tough with some bad injuries and I didn’t know I wasn’t going to be able to do it again but to be here and get this trophy. I will, I love you all so much.
what happened
Keys got off to as strong a start as she could ever hope to, unleashing her return, unnerving Sabalenka, finding the corner with a forehand and flicking the ball cleanly off the line with her backhand. hit down He also won 86 percent of his first serves, and applied a lot of pressure the rest of his game. That added to a 5-1 lead for the Keys, but by the end of the first set began to drop a few more groundstrokes and Sablanka looked a little more comfortable in the rallies.
That momentum carried over into the second, where Sabalenka stepped up and Keys couldn’t find the same shot-making consistency that carried him to the early lead. Sablanka grabbed the early break, and it was clear that it was going the distance.
In the third set, both players held full serve until 5-5.
The key moment of the match came in the middle of the game, with the keys down 15-30. First, Keys hit a perfect serve down the tee that surprised Sabalenka and didn’t return over the net. Then, at the end of 30, Sabalinka destroyed a second serve, leaving it at the feet of the deep keys on the baseline. But somehow, Keys got into position to redirect the ball across his body, and use Sublenka’s pace to hit a neat winner at the far post.
That clutch hold put Sabalenka under pressure to send the match to a tiebreak. But instead, a couple of nerve-wracking errors from Sablinka gave Keys a pair of match points.
On her second, Keys hit a great return that kicked down the baseline to cap the rally, then hit a forehand from mid-court to shorten the angle and go for the win. Sabalenka didn’t see it coming, and Keys put her hand on her head in somewhat muted celebration when she realized she had won her first Grand Slam title.
What does that mean?
For Keys, especially at this stage of his career, it’s both a surprise and a run that can’t be matched. It wasn’t an easy tournament for her: Keys had to beat No. 2 Iga Svitak in the semifinals, Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals, No. 6 Elina Rybkina in the round of 16 and former Australian finalist Daniel Collins in the third round.
Many believed that Keys’ best chance to ever win a major had passed him by. One of those chances came two years ago against Sabalenka in the US Open semifinals, where she blew a 6-0, 5-3 lead and couldn’t close the deal.
“I’m glad I got you back,” Keys joked during the trophy ceremony.
While Keys didn’t necessarily need a major to validate a career that kept him in the top 20 in the world for so long, credit this past offseason with making some technical and equipment changes that It was designed to provide a competitive edge. At this level, however, she has wanted to play for many years.
The most significant of these changes was pointed out by her husband and coach, former top 100 player Bjorn Fritangelo, who suggested that she had switched from the Wilson racquet that she had used for her entire career to polyester instead of soft. Used in lightweight unix framework with strings. Gut
Keys, who has always been one of the most powerful players on the women’s tour, said she felt more in control with her new setup while the lighter frame made it easier to absorb the speed of a player like Sabalenka. is
