2025 Australian Open - Women's Discussion

Who will be WTA singles champion for the 2025 Australian Open?

  • Sabalenka

    Votes: 6 22.2%
  • Swiatek

    Votes: 3 11.1%
  • Gauff

    Votes: 12 44.4%
  • Paolini

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Zheng

    Votes: 1 3.7%
  • Rybakina

    Votes: 3 11.1%
  • Pegula

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Shnaider

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Andreeva

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Other

    Votes: 2 7.4%

  • Total voters
    27
  • Poll closed .

Krish872007

Talk Tennis Guru
Iga’s handshake is irrelevant because she’s going home. Don’t put players in the final before they even won. Iga is beatable off clay, but still have to BEAT her and that’s what Keys did.

She's beatable on clay as well. Osaka was in a great position at RG last year until lack of real match play got to her
 

ScentOfDefeat

G.O.A.T.
There should be a special category for Iga.
A player who dismantles everyone 6/0 6/1 and then loses almost every tight match against a big hitter on hard by being unexplainably nervous.
 
There should be a special category for Iga.
A player who dismantles everyone 6/0 6/1 and then loses almost every tight match against a big hitter on hard by being unexplainably nervous.
She wasn’t nervous for no reason. Madison made her nervous, if Madison didn’t impose her game in any meaningful way, Iga would have won comfortably.
 

THUNDERVOLLEY

G.O.A.T.
Keys lived up to her oft-questioned potential and soundly defeated the overrated PED-abuser Swiatek. A great moment for tennis, and once again, certain people in this thread who were essentially wishcasting Swiatek into the final and winning the title were snorting the fumes of the years-long propaganda which concluded Swiatek was some GOAt-in-the-making. An absurd wish.


Now, we must look to Sabalenka, who is in the finals for the third time in a row. Of the defending champion, semifinalist Badosa said:

"If she plays like this, I mean, we can already give her the trophy.”

I will not go that far, but Sabalenka appears to shaping up to be a once in a generation force at the Australian Open
 

albertobra

Hall of Fame
It was right at the end of last year. She said her husband made her do it. She's finally discovered the gift of topspin, and look at the wonders it is producing.
Impressive. Absolutely the top spins is making the diference. Less error prone. Shall we really give credit to the racket? She was using Blade 16x19 before.
Is that a standard Ezone 98?
 

NYTennisfan

Hall of Fame
Missed the match and just saw the score. Go Maddy!!! Very happy for her, very nice girl, big game. Never thought I'd see her go this far in a slam again but now she has to take it all the way and beat the unspeakably loud grunter.
 

beltsman

G.O.A.T.
She wasn’t nervous for no reason. Madison made her nervous, if Madison didn’t impose her game in any meaningful way, Iga would have won comfortably.

She is nervous because she cares too much. That's also why she cheats. She would have more success and be a better person if she let go of her desire to control the outcome.
 

ScentOfDefeat

G.O.A.T.
She wasn’t nervous for no reason. Madison made her nervous, if Madison didn’t impose her game in any meaningful way, Iga would have won comfortably.
It's not Keys specifically, it's anyone who hits a big, flat ball that goes in. She will always have this Achilles heel, it seems, as there is nothing in her game that has shown improvement for these match-ups.
 

Grizzy

Rookie
Speak for yourself. Stop trying to to push this narrative. Let the match play itself out.
??? I wrote "I would be more excited if..." I don't think it's possible for me to speak for myself anymore. What narrative am I pushing? The narrative that personally I would enjoy watching the World #1 with 3 slams take on the World #2 with 5 slams on a surface they're tied 3-3 in?

Madison Keys is boring to me. I would pick at least 10 players over her to have vs Sabs in the finals. I'm hopeful she plays well and makes it an interesting final though.
 

tennis4me

Hall of Fame
The same formula seems to "still" work against Iga - flat hard hitters. FH breaks down a little more often with that big back swing. Against the big hitters, Iga has less opportunities/time to hit her high-bouncing topspin and more importantly, her court-opener hook topspin FH. The high-bouncing balls were mostly neutralized by Keys hitting them fairly early. Impressive win from Keys.

No cold handshake from Iga at the end, in case you're wondering. Maybe she's reading those comments.

 

ForehandCross

G.O.A.T.
The same formula seems to "still" work against Iga - flat hard hitters. FH breaks down a little more often with that big back swing. Against the big hitters, Iga has less opportunities/time to hit her high-bouncing topspin and more importantly, her court-opener hook topspin FH. The high-bouncing balls were mostly neutralized by Keys hitting them fairly early. Impressive win from Keys.

No cold handshake from Iga at the end, in case you're wondering. Maybe she's reading those comments.



My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.
 

ibbi

G.O.A.T.
Impressive. Absolutely the top spins is making the diference. Less error prone. Shall we really give credit to the racket? She was using Blade 16x19 before.
Is that a standard Ezone 98?
I don't know that it gets ALL the credit, but it definitely gets a lot. She spoke about it in her on-court interview after one of the matches.
 

D-Lite

Hall of Fame
Super happy for Keys - this run to the AO final is already more impressive than her run to the USO final in 2017. I really hope she can keep this level up and not have a mental lapse in the final.

I'm sad we won't get a first Sabalenka v Swiatek final. We have had Swiatek v Gauff, Sabalenka v Gauff, Sabalenka v Rybakina but not Swiatek v Rybakina, Rybakina v Gauff or what seemed most likely today Sabalenka v Swiatek.
 

bluetrain4

G.O.A.T.
OMG, Keys did it. I didn't make it and stay up all night. And coming from a set down and a tight final set tiebreak. Wow.

And Iga served for it at 6-5 in the third, plus Iga had several two point leads in the the breaker, including as late as 7-5, and then she was up 8-7. I bring this up just to underscore how big of a mental exercise this must have been for Keys. She could have had doubts, but she pushed through and kept playing her game and hitting her shots. Spectacular.
 
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beltsman

G.O.A.T.
The desire to always control the outcome does not always lead one to cheat. Swiatek cheats because its in her natural character to do so.

Certainly, certainly. But that's what it can lead to, in combination with the character of her being. Some people try to control the outcome and get frustrated. Some get angry. Some get depressed. Some cheat. All different symptoms of the same disease.
 

Tennis Fan States63

Hall of Fame
ESPN+. There's also an 8-minute extended highlights video on YT, as well as a 14-minute video of the entire 3rd set extended tiebreak.

Caught the tie-breaker as the 17-hour time difference catches up with you sometimes....haha.

Well done, Madison Keys - definitely took a step forward with mental fortitude. That match was on a knife-edge for both ladies at multiple times. Tough loss for Iga Swiatek, as she had cruised the entire tournament through the QF's. Needs a few hard-court adjustments, including serve, but she's still one of the toughest (if not the toughest) outs in the game. Overall, Keys outhit her......still @ 8-7, you'd think Iga takes it - tremendous clutch serve points for MK to get the lead and then take it on her only match point. Swiatek had a match point late in the 3rd set @ 6-5, 40-30.....will be interesting to see how both these ladies move forward.

Sabalenka/Keys Final......going to be some heavy hitting Saturday night in Melbourne - new balls, please.
 

vokazu

Legend
What's that warm up things Iga did when Keys was about to serve at the start of the 3rd set, lol. Iga even held her racquet up to delay Keys' serve... and then she got aced, lmao. Iga's got no shame.
 

zvelf

Hall of Fame
Congrats to Keys on a tough win. Swiatek was too impatient and went for winners before fully constructing her points and it led to too many unforced errors. On the other side, Keys played the big points really well.

Swiatek is such a choker. Can’t do nothing pretty much on hardcourts after winning the open.
Do nothing? She just reached the semis of the AO and beat the #8 player in the world 6-1, 6-2 along the way.

She's beatable on clay as well. Osaka was in a great position at RG last year until lack of real match play got to her
Obviously, everyone is literally beatable on any surface, even Nadal on clay. But as far as hyperbolic statements go, Iga is nearly unbeatable on clay. Her clay win percentage is 89%. Nadal's is 90%.

Keys lived up to her oft-questioned potential and soundly defeated the overrated PED-abuser Swiatek. A great moment for tennis, and once again, certain people in this thread who were essentially wishcasting Swiatek into the final and winning the title were snorting the fumes of the years-long propaganda which concluded Swiatek was some GOAt-in-the-making. An absurd wish.
This is hilarious coming from you, who stated that Osaka all but beat Swiatek at Roland Garros by holding a match point against her despite losing, but here, where Swiatek was even closer to beating Keys with a match point against, having Keys down 0-40 on Keys' serve twice in the final set, and leading through almost the entire super tiebreak, but this is somehow a sound beating? Your hypocrisy knows no bounds. An example of a sound beating is Swiatek thrashing Sabalenka 6-2, 6-1 in Rome.
 
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THUNDERVOLLEY

G.O.A.T.
What's that warm up things Iga did when Keys was about to serve at the start of the 3rd set, lol. Iga even held her racquet up to delay Keys' serve... and then she got aced, lmao. Iga's got no shame.

Of course not. If she's not cheating (on court or with PEDs), she's not winning, and no amount of public awareness and criticism (little as it is about Swiatek's inherently unethical behavior) will ever stop her.

At 1.47, Sabalenka should just have smacked it right in her face and nobody could have complained. Iga is such a tool and I can't stand watching her play...

Agreed. Swiatek is one of the most overrated players in recent years, with the worst of her supporters' incessant, "could be a GOAT" noise going far beyond any actual consideration of her achievements. Swiatek has been allowed to cheat at will, and that will not change until she's forced to by officials actually doing their job in every case of her cheating.
 

Moose Malloy

G.O.A.T.
Fewest games lost by the Aus Open women’s champ:

24 - Graf 1989
28 - Graf 1994
29 - Graf 1988
30 - Barty 2022
30 - Pierce 1995
31 - Sabalenka 2024
31 - Seles 1993

Swiatek has lost 14 games so far with 2 matches to come.
Well so much for that. I now wonder what the fewest games won by a semifinalist who didn't go on to win the tournament is? Probably Pierce at '94 RG(who made the finals)
 

Connor35

Professional
Swiatek is such a choker. Can’t do nothing pretty much on hardcourts after winning the open.

She literally had the highest hard court winning percentage in 2024 -- higher than Aryna. (85.0% to 81.6%)

And in 2023 (84.0% to 79.5%)

And in 2022.

Y'all make things up

Has Aryna been better at hard court majors. Absolutely.
Has Iga been as good or better on hard courts through the season. YES.

They split 3-3 all time on hard court and Iga won their only Major (2022 US Open) meeting.
 

Connor35

Professional
There should be a special category for Iga.
A player who dismantles everyone 6/0 6/1 and then loses almost every tight match against a big hitter on hard by being unexplainably nervous.

If this was true she wouldnt be 3-3 lifetime vs. Aryna on hard court.
Or 6-3 lifetime vs. Coco on Hard court.

Or have the highest hard court winning % in 2024, and 2023, and 2022.
 
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