Martina Navratilova sends heartfelt message to Madison Keys after American's 'gutsy' Australian Open triumph

Martina Navratilova congratulated Madison Keys after the latter broke her Grand Slam duck at the age of 29 by winning the Australian Open women's singles title. Keys won a three-set thriller (6-3, 2-6, 7-5) against World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who was aiming to win the Australian Open title for the third straight year.

In the aftermath of her maiden Major title triumph, the 29-year-old took to X (formerly Twitter) and posted a photo of herself celebrating with the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup, the official name of the Australian Open women's singles trophy. She captioned the post:

"I did it 📸 @AustralianOpen"

Upon taking notice of the post, former World No. 1 and 18-time singles Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova sent a congratulatory message to Keys. Navratilova lauded the qualities that the American showed throughout her remarkable run to the Australian Open title.

"You most certainly did- biggest congrats Madison- a well deserved win!!! Talk about perseverance and guts -my hat is off to you:)!!!," Navratilova wrote.

Madison Keys made it to her first-ever Major final at the 2017 US Open. However, on that occasion, she was comprehensively beaten 6-3, 6-0 in the final by compatriot Sloane Stephens.

In one of her post-match interviews following her latest success in Melbourne, the 29-year-old revealed how a radical change in her mentality helped her win the 2025 Australian Open.

"No longer the thing that was going to define me" - Madison Keys on winning Australian Open by doing away with Grand Slam "burden"

Madison Keys with the Australian Open women's singles trophy, the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup (Source: Getty)

Apart from reaching the 2017 US Open final, Madison Keys also made it to numerous Grand Slam semifinals over the years. The last time the American came close at a Major before her 2025 Australian Open heroics was at the 2023 US Open, where she lost to Aryna Sabalenka having been a set and a break up against the Belarusian. The loss left Keys in tears.

After winning the 2025 Australian Open, the 29-year-old told ESPN that she no longer burdened herself with expectations of winning a Major. According to Keys, this allowed her to play at her best and ultimately emerge triumphant on the Grand Slam stage.

"I think, I've done a lot of work to no longer need this. I really wanted it, but it was no longer, you know, the thing that was going to define me. And kind of letting go of that burden, I think finally gave myself, I finally gave myself the ability to actually play for it," Keys told ESPN.

"I felt like from a pretty young age, I felt like if I never won a Grand Slam, then I wouldn't have lived up to what people thought I should have been. That was a pretty heavy burden to kind of carry around," she added later at her post-match press conference.

Keys' Australian Open success was remarkable considering that she had to beat the likes of Danielle Collins, Elena Rybakina, Elina Svitolina and Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka in succession to win the tournament.