Keys Dethrones Sabalenka to Clinch Maiden Grand Slam Golden Trophy

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Madison Keys has done it.

Almost everyone already counted her out midway through the tournament but man oh man, the American ace just did the unthinkable and wrapped up the Australian Open Grand Slam event with a championship trophy, scoring an upset over the reigning and defending queen, Aryna Sabalenka- 6.3, 2.6, 7.5- on January 25, 2025, at the Rod Laver Arena in Australia.

Keys achieved one of the greatest championship campaigns in the history of the women’s category in the Australian Open after capping off the first Grand Slam event of the year with four victories against players seeded higher than her, including Sabalenka, who was ranked as the no. 1 female tennis player of the world.

With the historic win, Keys clinched her first-ever Grand Slam golden trophy in a total of 46 appearances since entering the main draw in 2009.

Boosted by the cheers of the crowd while embracing the underdog narrative against Sabalenka, Keys shocked the world with a brilliant performance in the opening set of the championship match.

Keys changed the complexion of the game when she broke Sabalenka’s service possession to jump ahead by two game sets and finished the opener with a dominant service hold.

However, the defending champion didn’t back down from the challenge and outworked Keys in the baseline rally exchanges to level the grand finals at 1-1.

Sabalenka started to heat up on the offensive side when she scored consecutive down-the-line forehand hits while taking advantage of Keys’ slow second service which resulted in easy return aces.

At the start of the third, Keys made her adjustments and didn’t play safe in her second service, reverting to a spin-heavy stroke that prevented Sabalenka from scoring any easy forehand returns.

The match went back and forth in the third as the majority expected but a single error cost Sabalenka the game when he committed an error after an 11-shot rally.

Keys then grabbed the chance to gain her footing in the most crucial stretch of the third and continued to frustrate Sabalenka with her deep slices that kissed the baseline area.

With the slow ball approach that Keys applied in the third, Sabalenka attempted to end the rally with quick off-the-bounce ground strokes but that strategy was to no avail and only resulted in unforced errors.

Before ousting Sabalenka, Keys scored a series of jaw-dropping upsets against Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina, Danielle Collins, and Elina Svitolina.

“I’ve wanted this for so long. I’ve been to one other Slam final and it didn’t go my way. I didn’t know I’d ever be back, and my team believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself,” said Keys during her post-game interview.