US tennis star Madison Keys, on Saturday defeated Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka to clinch the 2025 Australian Open women’s title.
Keys defeated Sabalenka to claim her first Grand Slam title at the Rod Laver Arena.
The American seeded 19 had been the underdog against the two-time defending champion who was seeking a 21st consecutive Melbourne match win.
But in the two-hour keenly contested encounter, Keys, who stepped up her tactics, won 6-3, 2-6, 7-5.
The 29-year-old became the first player to deny the world’s top two-ranked women at a major since Svetlana Kuznetsova at Roland Garros 2000.
She is also the first to do so at the Australian Open since Serena Williams in 2005.
With her victory, she became the fifth US female player to win an Australian Open title after Lindsay Davenport (2000), Jennifer Capriati (2001, 2002), Serena Williams (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2017) and Sofia Kenin (2020).
