Madison Keys finally broke through and can call herself a Grand Slam champion after beating the defending two-time Australian Open winner Aryna Sabalenka in three sets 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 on Saturday.
Keys at age 29 was eight years removed from her last Grand Slam final appearance, a defeat in the 2017 U.S. Open to Sloane Stephens.
After the match, Keys thanked many, including her husband and coach, former American tennis player Bjorn Fratengelo. The two just got married in November.
Keys, who will match a career-high No. 7 when the new ATP rankings come out on Monday, said when she was younger that she would have had to carry a heavy burden if she did not win a Grand Slam.
‘I have wanted this for so long and I have been in a grand slam final before, it did not go my way,’ Keys said. ‘I didn’t know if I was going to be able to get back to this position to try and win a trophy again and my team believed in me every step of the way, so thank you so much.’
In her 46th Grand Slam appearance (the third most before winning a women’s major title), Keys beat the tournament’s top two seeds and gave her husband a hug after the match, while Sabalenka threw her racket in frustration.
‘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 and I didn’t know if I was going to be able to do it again and to be here and have this trophy and also be able to do it with my husband, who is kind of dazed and confused over there. I love you all so much and I cannot wait for more,’ Keys said.
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