Australian Open: Madison Keys looks for first major title while Aryna Sabalenka hopes to ‘put my name into history’

CNN
 — 

Madison Keys wrote three short words on the camera lens after her dramatic semifinal victory against Iga Świątek at the Australian Open: “Oh my god.”

The American’s shock was plain for all to see, even before she had scribbled out those words on the face of the camera. When she sat down after the match, wiping tears away from her eyes, it was clear the size of her achievement was only just starting to dawn on her.

This was arguably the biggest victory of Keys’ career, setting up her second appearance in a grand slam final and her first Down Under. To get there, she had saved a match point and triumphed in a nerve-wracking super tie-break against a player she had only ever beaten once before.

Now on an 11-match winning run, Keys will have a chance to win a first grand slam title when she faces Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka in Melbourne on Saturday, with the match starting at 3:30 a.m. ET.

“I’m still trying to come down and figure out where I am,” the 29-year-old told reporters after her pulsating, two-and-a-half-hour victory against five-time grand slam champion Świątek, who had only dropped 14 games on her way to the semifinals.

Keys next faces a formidable opponent in Saturday’s final. Sabalenka, who defeated Spain’s Paula Badosa in the final four, could become the first woman in 26 years to win back-to-back-to-back Australian Open titles, on top of enhancing her status as the world No. 1.

Only Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong, Steffi Graf and Martina Hingis – who in 1999 was the last to achieve the feat – have ever completed Australian Open three-peats in the women’s game, and now Sabalenka is in a strong position to join them.

“For her to be at this point, she’s doing a lot of things right,” Graf, who completed her three-peat in 1990, told CNN Sport earlier this week. “I mean, it seems like also physically, she’s gotten stronger and less injury prone.

“It’s like putting all the puzzle pieces together, right? It’s like the body and mind being ready for it. And she seems like she’s been doing a great job at it.”

The Belarusian has quickly made Melbourne her home-from-home, dropping only one set on the way to the final. At her best, the 26-year-old’s powerful hitting from the baseline is borderline unstoppable, particularly on hard courts.

This weekend could mark Sabalenka’s fourth grand slam title overall, adding to her two Australian Open crowns and victory in last year’s US Open. Against 19th seed Keys, an opponent she has beaten in four of their past five meetings, she will be the firm favorite to secure a landmark three-peat.

“I’m so proud of myself, I’m proud of my team that we were able to put ourselves in such a situation,” Sabalenka said in her on-court interview on Thursday.

“It’s a privilege. If I’ll be able to put my name into history, it’s going to mean a lot. It’s going to mean the world to me … I couldn’t even dream about that, to be honest. At first, I was dreaming to win at least one grand slam, now I have this opportunity. It’s incredible.”

Keys, meanwhile, enters Saturday’s showpiece on the best winning streak of her career having won a ninth WTA title in Adelaide at the start of the year. Her only previous appearance in a major final was a straight-sets defeat against compatriot Sloane Stephens at the 2017 US Open, though she said that her mentality on the court is entirely different this time around.

“During that match, I was so consumed with being nervous and the moment, the opportunity and all of that, I never really gave myself a chance to actually play,” Keys told reporters.

“The big thing for me has just been knowing that there are going to be a lot of moments where I’m uncomfortable in the match,” she added. “It’s going to be stressful, you have thousands of people watching you, you might not be playing your best tennis, but instead of trying to shy away from that and search for settling or comfort or anything, just being okay with the situation. You can also play tennis through that.”

To that end, Keys said that she has tried to empower herself to play fearless, aggressive tennis, even in the most high-stakes situations. Incidentally, that’s also something she has admired in her next opponent’s game.

“What’s really impressive (with Sabalenka) is her mentality and I think her ability to always go for it, no matter what the score is, is really impressive,” said Keys, adding: “The one thing that I really wanted to try to be better at was not playing more passive in big points and honestly just trying to emulate the way that she trusts her game and she goes after it.”

The last time the two players met at a grand slam was the semifinals of the 2023 US Open. After winning the opening set to love, Keys was a break up in the second and third sets but just couldn’t get over the line, eventually going down in a deciding tie-break. The defeat has lingered long in her memory.

“Magically,” Sabalenka reflected after that match, “I was able to turn (it) around.” Against a fellow big-hitter of the tennis ball, she may need to find that magic touch once again in her quest for a third-straight Australian Open title.