2025 AO Women's final. Aryna Sabalenka vs Madison Keys

Who wins?

  • Aryna in 2

    Votes: 13 24.5%
  • Aryna in 3

    Votes: 13 24.5%
  • Madison in 2

    Votes: 3 5.7%
  • Madison in 3

    Votes: 24 45.3%

  • Total voters
    53
Oh my. Is this the moment when Keys overcomes what's between the ears to win the Australian Open? She has always had the shots and can certainly match Sabalenka power for power. Please, Madison, show up and play your best tennis. It'll be enough.
...and it was. So happy for Madison Keys. She has been a special player with a lovely game for a long time. She finally managed to keep it together mentally and win the AO. I hope this allows her to win a few more. Beautiful match against the current best player in the world. She took the title.
 
Great final and I'm super pleased for Keys. I can't imagine how that last forehand would have felt off the racket. Probably amazing.

It felt like a tepid tournament to me for most of it (not helped by having to miss a lot through work and the usual time zone problem). The last two matches Keys played though really sparked it into life. That Semi was incredible and so was the final.

Match point down in the semi but wins the title. Not dissimilar from Kerber all those years ago.
 
Maddy always had the game to be a GS winner, but struggled with the mental part believing she can win. Further proof that this game is all about what is between the ears.

So so so happy for Maddy and her entire team. I see her hubby is still in shock lol. All the off season hard work paid off.

Maddy played amazing tennis when it mattered the most, especially in those 30-30 games on her racket. All mental fortitude.
 
When a player has such powerful groundstrokes as Keys, they sometimes make the mistake of unleashing all their power at their opponent.
Its smarter to unleash all their power into THE OPEN COURT, and that's what Keys did today at the end of the match especially (y)
You get a COLD WINNER if you hit full power into the open court, because literally no chance of your opponent running it down!
Whereas if if you hit full power at your opponent, then you are taking a risk for minimal reward...
 
Every time that Maddy watches the championship point, she would need to see the angry reaction of Sabalenka before the handshake and then the smashed racquet. Completely unnecessary and unacceptable.
 
Every time that Maddy watches the championship point, she would need to see the angry reaction of Sabalenka before the handshake and then the smashed racquet. Completely unnecessary and unacceptable.

Yeah… I don’t think she’ll care, buddy. I think you can go ahead and let it go and just move on with your life.
 
Every time that Maddy watches the championship point, she would need to see the angry reaction of Sabalenka before the handshake and then the smashed racquet. Completely unnecessary and unacceptable.

I didn't see that. Did the cameras even show it? All I saw was a brief shot of the dead racket lying on the floor about 3 minutes later.

After match point Sabalenka did seem really annoyed but it looked like she was just mad that Keys could hit the baseline in such a big moment.
 
I didn't see that. Did the cameras even show it? All I saw was a brief shot of the dead racket lying on the floor about 3 minutes later.

After match point Sabalenka did seem really annoyed but it looked like she was just mad that Keys could hit the baseline in such a big moment.
Yes they showed her smashing it
 
I didn't see that. Did the cameras even show it? All I saw was a brief shot of the dead racket lying on the floor about 3 minutes later.

After match point Sabalenka did seem really annoyed but it looked like she was just mad that Keys could hit the baseline in such a big moment.

Start around 2:20.
 
Oh but Sabs is unbeatable bla bla bla bla bla bla
She certainly can seem unbeatable at times, but I definitely think she struggles when players take the racquet out of her hands a bit and she can't just blow them off the court. Keys on song is certainly never going to get blown off the court. What's Sabalenka's plan B then? I don't think she has one.
 
She certainly can seem unbeatable at times, but I definitely think she struggles when players take the racquet out of her hands a bit and she can't just blow them off the court. Keys on song is certainly never going to get blown off the court. What's Sabalenka's plan B then? I don't think she has one.
Maybe people can actually watch these ladies play instead of pre writing them in for finals and titles. Keys had one of the most brutal draws of any player ever. She had just won a warmup tournament. She hasn't lost a match in like 12 matches. She had to beat everyone to get this title. And she did. I have watched tennis alot. This scenario use to happen with Serena a lot. People would declare her unbeatable, not give her opposition any credit then look stupid at the end. Then wind it all back for the next slam.

Her beating Iga when no one was even competitive with her was a clue. But idiots couldnt see it.
 
Last edited:
Wow, can't believe Maddy won. Missed the match because it was on too early but I'm thrilled to see her win after her coming close several times in previous years, didn't think it was ever going to happen for her. Beat Rybakina, Swiatek and Sabalenka to win the title, one of the toughest runs that I can remember in recent history. Well earned
 
Sabs overdid the shrieking and expended too much energy. If she'd just reigned in the tonsils 10%, she'd have stayed on the right side of balance. Congartulations and well done, Keys!!
 
She certainly can seem unbeatable at times, but I definitely think she struggles when players take the racquet out of her hands a bit and she can't just blow them off the court. Keys on song is certainly never going to get blown off the court. What's Sabalenka's plan B then? I don't think she has one.
She’s a bully by definition.
 
5000.jpg


yonex already has preorders for 2 million more frames to USA
It just became morning in USA and already 2 million Yonex pre order?
Any verified news source.

Or if you mean Yonex has that already that would be for their product quality
 
She certainly can seem unbeatable at times, but I definitely think she struggles when players take the racquet out of her hands a bit and she can't just blow them off the court. Keys on song is certainly never going to get blown off the court. What's Sabalenka's plan B then? I don't think she has one.
From 5-5 keys played flawless in her service game and when it was Sabalenka s turn made some unforced errors to go to 15-40. That's when the game was gone.

The way Keys played nobody in WTA could have won against her.
 
Maybe people can actually watch these ladies play instead of pre writing them in for finals and titles. Keys had one of the most brutal draws of any player ever. She had just won a warmup tournament. She hasn't lost a match in like 12 matches. She had to beat everyone to get this title. And she did. I have watched tennis alot. This scenario use to happen with Serena a lot. People would declare her unbeatable, not give her opposition any credit then look stupid at the end. Then wind it all back for the next slam.

Her beating Iga when no one was even competitive with her was a clue. But idiots couldnt see it.
I agree this is maybe the most unfluked slam victory of all-time :D with a 100% difficult draw and an extremely emphatic brand of tennis (take the match out of your opponent's hands) :love:
 
Happy for MK, a nice person who has paid her dues and then some. Totally deserves this one. Timing award goes to YY for the signing. Tacky display from Saba for snapping at her crew and smashing the racquet. Didn't a cam catch her doing that in a locker room too? Show some respect for the game, willya.
 
I agree this is maybe the most unfluked slam victory of all-time :D with a 100% difficult draw and an extremely emphatic brand of tennis (take the match out of your opponent's hands) :love:
Plus: it’s not like Swiatek or Sabalenka had terrible days. Both matches went to distance, especially the SF (10-8 in the tiebreaker). Keys really earned it. Her opponents made her earn it. For the first time, Keys learned how to dig deep and deeper, and she found treasure.
 
Screamalenka used to smash her racket when she lose matches after the cold hand shakes at the net at the end of matches before she won a slam

Defending champion, got to the final and was narrowly edged out, she still behaves like a child after the hand shake. No class at all.
 
Unexpected result, but some country club-minded Sabalenka haters on this board are setting themselves up for a rather painful fall if they think the player of this era is somehow "done" at the majors. That said, Keys performed well and earned her first major in believable fashion. Whether she will have what it takes to defend the title remains to be seen, but she now has the weight of expectation on her shoulders as the 2025 majors year continues.

As always, the updated list of majors winners (not named Serena) since 2010:

Schiavone: FO - 2010

Clijsters: USO 2010 & AO 2011

Li Na: FO 2011 & AO 2014

Kvitova: Wimbledon 2011 & 2014

Stosur: USO 2011

Sharapova: FO 2012 & FO 2014

Azarenka: AO 2012 & 2013

Bartoli: Wimbledon 2013

Pennetta: USO 2015

Kerber: AO 2016, USO 2016 & Wimbledon 2018

Muguruza: FO 2016 & Wimbledon 2017

Ostapenko: FO 2017

Stephens: USO 2017

Wozniacki: AO 2018

Osaka: USO 2018, 2020 & AO 2019 and 2021

Barty: FO 2019, Wimbledon 2021 & A0 2022

Halep: FO 2018 & Wimbledon 2019

Andreescu: 2019 USO

Kenin: AO 2020

Krejčíková: FO 2021, Wimbledon 2024

Raducanu: USO 2021

Świątek: FO 2020 & 2022, 2023, 2024 & USO 2022

Rybakina: Wimbledon 2022

Vondroušová: Wimbledon 2023

Gauff: USO 2023

Sabalenka: AO 2023, 2024 & USO 2024

Keys: AO 2025


History was already made during the rise and reign of the Williams sisters as Black women winning majors in the same period, but it led some to simply lump the sisters together as not being representative of the return and ascent of Black players winning majors in general. With Keys starting 2025 with a victory, and recent years success of Gauff and Osaka, tennis is witnessing a powerful group of Black female representation that--hopefully-continues to grow.
 
One thing I noticed from the highlights is that Keys game has added a defensive slice that bailed her out on a few important points. She may have had it before but I always remember her just trying to blast through the opponent.
 
Two BEAUTIFUL speeches. Top THAT, Sinner and Zverev.
Zverev can actually be funny. For example his on court interview after his match vs Tommy Paul. He made everyone laugh.

Sinner, each time he talks he reminds me of Berdych. Very flat.
 
Zverev can actually be funny. For example his on court interview after his match vs Tommy Paul. He made everyone laugh.

Sinner, each time he talks he reminds me of Berdych. Very flat.
Sinner's interview after his last match was great! Acknowledging how awkward and boring he is was endearing as hell.
 
Happy for MK, a nice person who has paid her dues and then some. Totally deserves this one. Timing award goes to YY for the signing.
They aren't making the most of it though. As of this moment, there is no mention of Keys or her triumph on the Yonex homepage. The lead news item is about Ben Shelton. https://www.yonex.com/ (could be different by the time you check).

Keys does not even appear to be included in the master list of tennis endorsers. https://www.yonex.com/athletes/tennis
 
I realize this is way too soon but do you guys see Keys continuing her run from here? Maybe runs at Indian Wells and Miami?

EDIT: Actually just realized Doha and Dubai are first up on the women's side in terms of 1000's.
This is the question.

On the one hand, I think that most likely this Slam is an incredibly well-earned, fantastic career bookend - in terms of highest achievement - and it will most likely be Keys' only Slam. This doesn't I expect her to fade away - she'll still have wins over top players, win non-Slams, make decent Slam runs. But, I don't think it's that unreasonable to think she doesn't win another Slam. Certainly not going through the type of draw she just did in the manner she did - winning in three sets vs. a handful of very top players. In the after glow of the win, it's easy to to think that she will just go on and win a few others. But, nothing has changed - Keys is still Keys - both the upside (which was on full display here) and the downside, meaning she's not suddenly immune from the stretches of error-filled play which has caused her to come up short previously. And the competition hasn't changed - there's still just a lot of tough players, and this incredible win notwithstanding, I'm not sure I'd ever pick Maddy over the field in any given Slam.

Flip side, why can't she go "full Wawrinka" and at this later stage of her career consistently be part of the upper level of women's tennis for a period and nab one or two more Slams. As we all know, she has the physical tools. But does this Slam win give her enough confidence and "purpose" as a top player to really be there consistently? Or will the newfound attention and expectations work against her? IMO, if she's going to win more, then this Slam has to light a fire for her to train even harder, to do anything she can to put herself in position to win Slams. Will she have this mindset - "I want to prove I can do it again" - or is she going to be quietly satisfied in the vein of "I got mine, anything else is just a bonus." If it's the latter, I don't see her winning another Slam.

I'd have to imagine she might replace Bjorn as her main coach with someone else. Commentators kept on saying how he's her main coach reluctantly. Obviously doesn't mean he can't still be a presence.

Note: I realized after the fact that the the post I was responding to was simply talking about this season's "run," not necessarily the prognosis for the rest of her career. Nevertheless, those are my thoughts on whether she'll win more Slams.
 
Last edited:
Press conference was great - very interesting he talk about therapy and her need to broaden beyond "sports therapy" and dig a little deeper. Also, when she talked about how she used to try to push feelings, nerves away and she'd almost be looking at herself from above when she started to get nervous or angsty and expected those feelings to result in poor play. She came to learn that she could be nervous and scared and emotional (which is to be expected) and STILL play good tennis. Really good stuff.
 
I'm guessing the technical and mental support that hubby Bjorn contributed by his on-court presence/coaching cannot be underestimated.
 
Never. Don't never give up.
I can't believe it! Dreams do come true!
First slam at 29.
Incredible power. Went for her shots when she had the opportunity. Who knew the women's final would be where I got the most excitement from.. from this event.
 
Back
Top