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Madison Keys has turned the tennis world on its head with a stunning victory over much-favored Aryna Sabalenka in the Australian Open final. Keys, the No. 19 seed, raced to a 6-3 first-set lead playing some of the finest tennis of her career. She dropped her level to allow the Belarusian WTA-ranked World No. 1 back into the match in the second set, which she lost 2-6.
Keys held her nerve in the final set to run out a 7-5 winner and take her first major title at 29. Her route through the tournament was anything but straightforward, surviving match points and having to go the three-set route in five of her seven matches. No other player in the Open era has won the Australian Open tournament after consecutive three-set contests from the fourth round.
After under-performing in her only other Grand Slam final appearance, a straight-set defeat to Sloan Stephens in the 2017 US Open, Keys refused to lie down after Sabalenka turned up the pressure.
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On that note, let's take a look at the opponents the 29-year-old beat to win her maiden Grand Slam title.
1st round: Ann Li (US) 6-4, 7-5
Keys beat fellow American Ann Li in the first round in one of her few straightforward matches at this year's Australian Open. The match only lasted 1 hour and 8 minutes, and although Li was competitive, Keys was always a step ahead.
Keys achieved a 71% first-serve success in the match, which was the key to the victory - she also converted all her break points too. This was an early indication of her form, and being able to play her best tennis at clutch points in the match.
2nd round: Elena Gabriela Ruse (Rou) 7-6(1), 2-6, 7-5
In a far more difficult encounter, Keys took on Romanian Ruse, and needed three sets to despatch her. The match took 2 hours and 30 minutes, and Ruse offered stubborn resistance in the first set, before Keys took control on the second.
The American repeated her first serve success, at 69% this time, but failed to convert her break opportunities as she had against Li. Qualifier Ruse gave Keys plenty of trouble with her powerful back-court game, but Keys was able to steady herself in the final set to see the match out.
3rd round: Danielle Collins 10th seed (US) 6-4, 6-4
In an all-American third round, Keys was able to take defeat tenth seed Danielle Collins. Collins had made some comments after her second-round match riling up the crowd, and they again tried to upset the 10th seed.
Keys rose above the controversy and won a straightforward match. Collins also suffered from a knee injury in the match and called for a medical timeout. The match lasted 1 hour and 23 minutes, and the 31-year-old failed to get to grips with Keys' superior all-court tennis.
4th round: Elena Rabayinka, 6th seed (Kaz) 6-3, 1-6, 6-3
Keys again needed three sets to get past the 6th seed, Elena Rabayinka. The match was a topsy-turvy affair, with both players enjoying periods of dominance. The win took Keys winning streak to nine matches, after her success at the Adelaide Open early in January.
She came through a difficult second set in which she lost four straight games to the Kazakh, but then Rabayinka appeared to suffer a back injury. They traded blows until 3-3 in the third set, before Keys relaxed and reeled off the final three games to book her quarterfinal place.
Quarterfinals: Elina Svitolina, 28th seed (Ukr) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
Svitolina was making her third Australian Open quarterfinal appearance, and Keys her fourth. The Ukrainian had caused a major upset in the third round by knocking out Jasmine Paolini, the fourth seed, and was favored to move past Keys.
In a match of just under two hours, Keys again had to battle back from a set down, but once she found her rhythm she didn't look back. After the match, Keys told WTAtour.com:
"I'm really, really proud of myself to be in another semifinal here and kind of hoping and looking forward to see if I can make it one step further."
Semifinal: Iga Swiatek, 2nd seed, (Pol) 5-7. 6-1, 7-6(8)
Keys' semifinal match against the irrepressible Pole will be remembered as one of the greatest matches played at the Rod Laver Arena. The momentum swung both ways throughout the two-hour and 38-minute encounter. Keys' serve was broken three times in succession in the first set, but she broke back twice and hung on to narrowly lose the set.
Keys raced through the second set 6-1, and then the pair shared an epic third set, swapping service breaks and momentum. At 5-6 Swiatek had match point, but Keys kept her nerve to set up a 10-point tie-break, which she won 10-8 after playing catch-up for most of it.
Final: Aryna Sabalenka, 1st seed (Bel) 6-3, 2-6, 7-5.
Sabalenka was chasing her third successive Australian Open title, while Keys was making only her second Grand Slam final appearance in a 15-year career. Despite the Belarusian being a clear favorite the retain the trophy, Keys played faultless tennis to win the first set 6-3.
Sabalenka had appeared out of sorts in that opening set but hit her stride in the second as Keys' level dropped. An early break in the third appeared to have broken Keys' resistance, but the American roared back to set up the final service break that saw her set up two championship points. She won the second of those, and her first major title.
