Aryna Sabalenka was unable to win her third consecutive Australian Open title after being beaten by Madison Keys.
Sabalenka was extremely frustrated by this loss, showcased in her reaction after the final point of the match.
Despite Sabalenka’s disappointment, Keys has been congratulated by Coco Gauff, Sloane Stephens and many other colleagues after winning her first major title.
Keys had to do it the hard way, beating three Grand Slam champions en route to the Australian Open title in Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina that included saving a match point.
Photo by Robert Prange/Getty Images
Prior to the final, Keys spoke about trying to emulate Sabalenka with her fearlessness on big points.
This is something that Keys admitted to doing in the final, with her comments being relayed to Sabalenka in the press conference after the match.
“Why would you say that?” Sabalenka said with a smile. “No, I mean, that’s definitely something you have to do like when you in the top. If you are aggressive player, you have to go for your game at the important moments.
“That’s crazy to hear that I’m younger than her and she’s inspired by me. It’s means a lot. I always wanted to be an inspiration. Maybe not for the players but people outside of tennis (laughter).
“That’s crazy. It’s good to hear. I hope that next time I’ll play a little bit better than her in those big moments.”
Both players produce a hard-hitting style of tennis, with Keys able to hit 29 winners past the world number one.
As a result, Sabalenka suggested that Keys hits harder than Serena Williams after producing winners as fast as 137 kph.
Although she has been unable to make history with a third consecutive Australian Open title, Sabalenka has still been able to win 20 consecutive matches in Melbourne.
When this was brought to Sabalenka, she explained how she is trying to take the positives from her run over the past three years.
“I mean, I’m super proud,” admitted Sabalenka. “As I was saying before these finals, the thing that I was able to achieve that many wins in a row at one Grand Slam, that’s crazy. That’s already something, you know?
“Anyway, when someone else going to achieve the same, they’re going to say the last player who was able to achieve, they’re going to say my name. It’s already something big.
“I’m just trying to stay positive right now, find something good (smiling), but that’s crazy. I couldn’t even dream, couldn’t even think about that, like, few years ago that I’d be able to win that many matches in the row at one Slam.
“There is definitely something to be proud of and something I definitely have to improve and be better at. It’s always a process of these things to be proud and then to improve some stuff, which didn’t work well.”
It does not seem that she will rest for long with this, as
Sabalenka assured to get revenge on Keys in their next match.
Aryna SabalenkaAustralian OpenMadison Keys
