7 years after denying close friend Madison Keys her maiden Slam, Sloane Stephens sends sweet message to American after Australian Open 2025 win

Madison Keys won her maiden Major title at the 2025 Australian Open in hard-fought fashion on Saturday (January 25), downing two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in three sets. Following her triumph in Melbourne, she received rich praise from Sloane Stephens, who is one of her closest friends on the WTA Tour.

The World No. 14, who beat the likes of Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina en route to the Australian Open final, began the match in ideal fashion as she took the opening set. While Sabalenka was quick to launch a comeback and nab the second, Keys' firepower was too much for her as the 19th-seeded American won the title match 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 in just over two hours.

2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens took to her X (formerly Twitter) account soon after to claim that her 29-year-old friend securing her maiden Major title was only a matter of time considering her immense talent.

"It was never if, just when. You deserve this and beyond 🏆❤️," Sloane Stephens wrote on X on Saturday.

Madison Keys and Sloane Stephens also contested the US Open final seven years ago. Stephens, who was ranked 83rd at the time and on an injury comeback trail back then, trounced Keys by a scoreline of 6-3, 6-0 to win her maiden Major title.

During their embrace at the net following the summit clash, the then-World No. 15 broke into tears and cried into her good friend Stephens' arms. Although the latter suffered a few more heartbreaks in the succeeding years, she finally vindicated herself by going all the way at the Australian Open this fortnight.

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Sloane Stephens reveals why she became friends with Madison Keys

Madison Keys and Sloane Stephens pose during 2017 US Open ceremony (Source: Getty)

In 2021, Madison Keys and Sloane Stephens sat down for a candid interview with Nike, where they discussed their shared history of competing on the women's circuit in their early years. According to Stephens, it made sense for them to be friends as they were age-adjacent.

"In tennis, you’re kind of just around the same people all the time," Sloane Stephens told Nike in 2021 (via Tennis magazine). "I think we were like, 'Oh, Hi, like, let’s be friends. We’re close in age.'"

The former World No. 3, who is two years older than Keys, also disclosed during the interaction that both she and her good friend were suffering from physical niggles during their final at Flushing Meados in 2017.

"We were kind of trying to figure out what we were going to do next," Stephens added. "Like, are we going to be able to play and compete the same? That was one of the times where both our injuries were in sync, I guess. Not that that’s a good thing."

Interestingly, Madison Keys avenged Sloane Stephens' defeat to World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in Melbourne last week. The World No. 81 had succumbed 3-6, 2-6 to the Belarusian in their first-round encounter at the tournament.