Madison Keys exorcises some grand slam demons as a rare underdog making good in Melbourne, while Aryna Sabalenka comes to terms with losing at the Australian Open.
Here are the quick hits from the penultimate day at Melbourne Park.
1. Exorcising demons
Madison Keys rocketed to a 5-1 lead in the first set against a shell-shocked Aryna Sabalenka. (Getty Images: Fred Lee)
When Keys broke Sabalenka in the first game of the final, no-one freaked out all that much. After all, her semifinal started with four straight breaks of serve and that first set against Iga Świątek still took an hour to resolve.
But on Sunday night, Keys consolidated. Then broke again. And after 20 minutes, the 19th seed was up 5-1 and had the world number one serving to stay alive in the opening set.
In the blink of an eye, Keys exceeded her performance from her first and only other outing in a grand slam final, when she won just three games against Sloane Stephens in the 2017 US Open decider.
After getting over the hump, she admitted fearing she may never get a chance after missing out eight years ago.
2. Sabalenka ‘hates’ her team
Aryna Sabalenka is not used to losing at the Australian Open. (Getty Images: Fred Lee)
The moment Keys’s backhand winner ripped past to deny Sabalenka a third straight Australian Open crown, the Belarusian looked up at her box and she delivered some home truths.
After a warm embrace with the new champion, Sabalenka went over to her chair and demolished her racquet on the blue hardcourt before hanging a towel over her head to hide her tears.
As Keys and her team celebrated the victory, Sabalenka quickly ducked off court to compose herself and, to her credit, did so marvellously.
By the time she was called on to speak with the unfamiliar runners-up dish, Sabalenka was back to cracking wise.
After jokingly posing next to the winner’s Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup, she credited Keys and then looked up at the team in her players’ box.
“As always, that’s your fault, guys. I don’t want to see you for the next week. I really hate you,” she said.
“No really, thank you so much everything you do for me and blah blah blah. Anyway, I love you, even though we lost.”
3. A rare underdog story at Melbourne Park
The Australian Open once had a reputation as the grand slam where underdogs would thrive, but it’s really been a happy hunting ground for the top seeds for the most part.
Madison Keys was ranked 20 when the seedings were decided and the tournament started two Sundays ago.
While her ranking jumped up to 14 on the first Monday and she will climb into the top 10 again for the first time since 2023 after her triumph, 19th seed Keys is lowliest player to win the singles title in Melbourne in 18 years.
Serena Williams was technically ranked 81st at the 2007 Australian Open, not that anyone believed that. (Getty Images)
In 2007, Serena Williams was on the comeback trail from ankle and knee injuries and entered the draw as the most terrifying world number 81 in history.
Williams tore through the tournament and dismantled Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-2 in the final in just over an hour for her 12th grand slam title.
On the men’s side of the draw, you have to go back to world number 212 Mark Edmondson in 1976 to find a champion ranked lower than Keys.
4. Marathon men’s doubles final
Tiebreakers are always always tense. That tension is heightened when it is in the first set of a grand slam final.
The Italian third seeds Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori, against sixth seeds Harri Heliovaara (Finland) and Henry Patten (UK) experienced the drama of a first-set tiebreaker in their men’s doubles final.
The first team to score at least seven points leading by two wins. Easy right?
These four men produced a 34-point epic that ended with the Italian third seeds winning 18-16.
It was Bolelli-Vavassori’s sixth set point when they finally got the job done, in a tiebreaker that lasted more than 24 minutes. The entire set lasted 87 minutes.
Spare a thought for Heliovaara-Pattern who had 10 set points, but could not win any of them.
5. What time is the Australian Open men’s singles final?
Defending champion and world number one Jannik Sinner faces Germany’s world number two Alexander Zverev in the men’s singles final of the 2025 Australian Open.
Sinner is attempting to win his third grand slam, after the 2024 Australian Open and US Open.
Zverev is hunting his maiden grand slam triumph. He has been a runner-up at the 2020 US Open and 2024 French Open.
This is when players are expected to be on court for the men’s final
- 7:30pm AEDT: NSW, Vic, Tas, ACT
- 6:30pm AEST: Queensland
- 7:00pm ACDT: South Australia
- 6:00pm ACST: Northern Territory
- 4:30pm AWST: Western Australia
