Madison Keys served up an exciting start to the New Year not only with a ring on her finger but also by ticking off a Grand Slam victory from her to-do list. She defeated world number one Aryna Sabalenka 6-3,2-6,7-5 to claim her maiden Grand Slam title on Rod Laver Arena. She became the third Black woman to win the Australian Open women’s final, following in the footsteps of Evonne Goolagong-Cawley and Serena Williams.Â
Keys’ personal success off-court has been following her professionally onto the court before she has even turned 30. She married pro tennis player Bjorn Fratangelo in November 2024. As a former professional tennis player himself, they share the passion for tennis and know the struggles of the game. Finding a man these days seems just about impossible, but winning a grand slam? The chances of that are even rarer. Not many can say they have done both.Â
Just months after her marriage, she reached her second Grand Slam final, having previously lost to her close friend Sloane Stephens in the 2017 US Open final. This year, Stephens lost in the first round to Sabalenka.
Tennis is a psychological game that requires resilience, there is nowhere to hide on a tennis court. The players are surrounded by a crowd watching them but behind every great player is a team of dedicated coaches, family and fans. Keys was able to celebrate her special moment with her husband and team.Â
In the first set, Keys hits big, taking the first set 6-3 confidently with a winner down the line. In the second set, the two time Aussie champion, Sabalenka tightened up her game with less unforced errors and big serving. She led 4-1 with a double break. With every grunt, she revealed power and fury on the court to take the second set 6-2. Pressure was high after the first two sets and could have gone either way. Both players were in it to win the Aussie Open either for the first time or third time in a row. The final set was the closest of the match, with both players holding service until Keys broke Sabalenka’s service game at 6-5 to win the match.Â
Keys’ journey to the final was tough, beating one time Grand Slam champion Elena Rybakina in the fourth round and five time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek in the semi final. Entering the tournament ranked No.14 in the world, she will now move to no.7 in the WTA rankings.Â
What has made the women’s tour so thrilling, is the unpredictability of the winners and matches. Last year’s finalist Zheng Qinwen did not make it into the second week of the tournament this year, losing to Laura Siegemund in the Round of 64. In this year’s Grand Slam, the No.19 seed Keys dethroned the no.1 seed Sabalenka in the final.
Keys shared what made her winning moment even more special: “I made my very first Grand Slam semi-final here, so to have won my first Grand Slam in the same place means the absolute world to me.”
At the age of 29, Keys is one of the oldest players to win a Grand Slam for the first time in the Open era. She shows that age is just a number when it comes to tennis. You are never too young or too old to stun audiences but what you definitely need is patience. It has taken Keys 8 years to reach another Grand Slam Final since the 2017 US Open final. She made her first semi-final appearance at a Grand Slam at the 2015 Australian Open as a teenager, beating Venus Williams. Driven by her dreams, she has persevered through plenty of ups and downs, winning 10 WTA singles finals. The journey to her Grand Slam title was evidently a long and hard one.Â
Athletes put in years of effort and resilience to be the best, yet sometimes, despite hours of training, matches do not go their way. This was clearly expressed when Sabalenka smashed her racquet on her tennis bag and stormed off court before Keys’ victory ceremony. A victory by Sabalenka would have made her the first woman to have won the Australian Open in three consecutive wins since Martina Hingis from 1977-1999.Â
The next Grand Slam of the year will be the French Open in Paris, starting on May 25th. A player to watch out for is Iga Swiatek, the “Queen of Clay.” She was the champion of the women’s French Open last year and is eager to defend the women’s title. Her natural movement and ability to rip through the ball makes her a dominant player on the court. We can also expect to see Keys back on the clay court this year, having played every year since 2013. Yet, given the recent unpredictability of women’s tennis, who knows who will be raising the Suzanne-Lenglen cup at Roland Garros this year.