By Jayita A Belcourt
29-year-old veteran Madison Keys has stunned the world by clinching her first grand slam title at the Australian Open. In just over 2 hours, Keys dispatched two-time defending champion and world no.1 Aryan Sabalenka 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 in the final on Rod Laver Arena, becoming the first women in 20 years beating the top two players enroute to the title. Clearly elated, the newly married American and world no. 14, fought back tears as she reflected on the highs and lows that had led to this defining moment in her career.
“I always feel so at home here. I made my very first Grand Slam semi-final here in Melbourne. So to have won my first Grand Slam in the same place means the absolute world to me.”
“I have wanted this for so long, and I have been in one other grand slam final which did not go my way and I didn’t know if I would be able to get back to this position and win a trophy again”.
“And my team, believed in me every step of the way. Thank you so much. They believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself, and helped me every step of the way.”
“Last year was so tough, with some really bad injuries, I didn’t know if I was gonna be able to do it again. And to be here, and to have this trophy, and to do it with my husband [and coach Bjorn Fratangelo], who is kinda dazed and confused over there… I just want to say thank you so much.”
“I can’t believe it. I’m so happy.”
Rewind 12 months, the USA tennis star was uncertain of her career and knew that some shifts were needed if she wanted to propel forward and grind back to her best. Battling injury and dips in her confidence, Keys and her team made some radical decisions ahead of the 2025 season – changing her racquet Wilson to Yonex), strings, and service motion – ultimately to amplify her performance, and protect her aging and injury-prone body. And thankfully, it paid off.
“They helped me rebuild after some gnarly injuries [shoulder injury in January and a hamstring injury in July 2024],” Keys said. “I’m mostly just really proud of myself, to get back to this position and be able to play the way that I played and finish on such a strong note. I’m just really proud of myself. I didn’t always believe that I could get back to this point. But to be able to do it and win, it means the world to me.”
Beyond all that, Keys was able to find peace and solace in herself, with or without a title. And perhaps this mindset shift, along with a newfound self-belief and heightened self-awareness, was catalyst to banking Australia’s greatest accolade in tennis this summer. Keys in her post-match interview gave significant credit to attending “therapy”, enabling her to iron out any unconstructive patterns or constructs.
Keys highlighted, “I finally got to the point where I was proud of myself and proud of my career, with or without a Grand Slam. I finally got to the point where I was okay if it didn’t happen. I didn’t need it to feel like I had a good career or that I deserved to be talked about as a great tennis player”.
“I feel like finally letting go of that kind of internal talk that I had, just gave me the ability to actually go out and play some really good tennis to actually win a Grand Slam. One point at a time”.
“I just kept telling myself, Be brave, go for it, just kind of lay it all out on the line. Kind of at that point, no matter what happens, if I do that, then I can be proud of myself. It just made it a little bit easier.”
“I think winning that match the other night against Iga was really kind of a big hurdle where I felt like… I always believed that I could do it, but to do it that way I think really I thought to myself after the match that I can absolutely win on Saturday.”
As Keys edges closer to turning 30 years old, she finally looks like she has found success – and happiness – both on and off the court. And her story serves as a shining reminder to us all. Never give up on your dreams.
(Jayita Belcourt is our long time Australian Open correspondent.)
AO · Australian Open · Madison Keys · Nike · USA · Yonex
Scoop Malinowski · January 25, 2025 at 7:14 pm
Incredible performance by both but Keys stole the show with the best tennis of her life. So nice to see the raw joy of the first time Grand Slam winner, no other sport delivers this special feeling like tennis. Tremendous credit must go to coach Bjorn Fratengelo, he really helped to give Madison Keys something she didn’t have before. He saw something and filled the void. Keep in mind Franangelo only won two Grand Slam matches in his life, one round at French Open and one round at US Open. His best ranking was 99. And he was a fine player.
Steve · January 27, 2025 at 7:37 am
Definitely a feel good win. Sam Querrey said she switched to Yonex without a sponsorship contract. Will be interesting if they pay her big time for this win & free marketing.
Scoop Malinowski · January 27, 2025 at 7:51 am
One grand slam w Yonex and she wins… over a decade of grand slams with Wilson and zero wins. hmmm.
Scoop Malinowski · January 27, 2025 at 3:39 pm
Keys entire career or close to entire career with Wilson Blade. This is a massive endorsement for Yonex plus Keys said she left the racquet entirely up to Bjorn. And Bjorn told ESPN he made the switch – racket and strings – to “bring Madison into the modern game…” Translation: Blade is too heavy, too old school to deal with today’s big blasters. Plus he specifically said he wanted to lessen stress on her shoulder implying old racquet/strings were hurting her. And she did have chronic shoulder problems. Keys beat Wilson Blade players Sabalenka and Svitolina. Rough day for Wilson.
Steve · January 28, 2025 at 7:41 am
I guess the two Martinas and Rios were on to something all those years ago.
Scoop Malinowski · January 28, 2025 at 8:12 am
Well Steve as a Yonex player what do you say about your Yonex racquet? Sampras 20 grand slams if he used Yonex? )
Steve · January 28, 2025 at 10:01 am
Believe or not the isometric head shape really does feel like it extends the sweet spot. So my 97 inch feels like a 100.
Most of the technologies that Yonex comes up with are legit and not like karophite black or pure marketing nonsense.
Scoop Malinowski · January 29, 2025 at 6:33 pm
So many notable players are Yonex converts, Hingis, Rios, Hewitt put Yonex on the map as a special racquet. The wave of momentum never faltered either. I like the racquet but prefer Head Radical Pro right now.