Why Madison Keys’ incredible Australian Open run will stand the test of time

Pictured: Madison Keys lifts the Australian Open trophy.
Madison Keys lifts the Australian Open trophy.

Madison Keys earned her Australian Open title the hard way.

The American was the standout performer of the women’s singles draw in Melbourne, defying the odds to finally lift her first Grand Slam title.

It was a moment that many thought would never come for Keys, who has faced more than her fair share of injury issues and heartbreaking Slam losses across her career.

However, the stars aligned in Melbourne this past fortnight, with the new world No 7 hitting an array of impressive milestones on her way to lifting the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup.

Here, we look at why Keys’ run is one for the record books.

46th time lucky

This was Keys’ 46th appearance in the main draw of a Grand Slam, and many had thought the 29-year-old’s chances of winning a major had gone.

The American had lost her only previous Grand Slam final seven years ago, to Sloane Stephens at the 2017 US Open, and had a string of near-misses to her record.

Before this tournament, Keys had lost two previous Australian Open semi-finals, a French Open semi-final, and two further US Open semi-finals outside of her 2017 final defeat.

By finally triumphing at the Australian Open, Keys ended one of the longest waits to win her first Slam.

In the Open Era, only Flavia Pennetta (49, 2015 US Open) and Marion Bartoli (47, 2013 Wimbledon) are the only women to play more Grand Slams before lifting their first major.

Whether Keys follows Pennetta and Bartoli in retiring within weeks of her triumph remains to be seen, but there is no denying her persistence has paid dividends.

Defying age

It is a decade since Keys reached her first Grand Slam semi-final at the 2015 Australian Open, the then-teen prodigy stunning Venus Williams in the last eight.

Ten years on, the 29-year-old has remained a mainstay towards the upper echelons of the WTA and has become one of the oldest first-time female major winners of the Open Era.

Aged 29 years and 343 days, only Pennetta (33 years and 199 days) and Francesca Schiavone (29 years and 346 days, 2010 French Open) claimed their first major titles at an older age.

Keys is now also the oldest first-time winner of the Australian Open women’s singles title in the Open Era, eclipsing Kerry Melville Reid’s record of 29 years and 154 days set in 1977 (Jan).

She has also smashed Jennifer Capriati’s US record of the oldest first-time women’s singles major winner, the former world No 1 having been 24 years and 304 days old at the 2001 Australian Open.

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Sabalenka and Swiatek vanquished

Perhaps Keys’ most impressive feat in Melbourne was that she was able to beat both of the top two players in the world on her way to the title.

Keys saved a match point to defeat world No 2 Iga Swiatek 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(8) in the last four, before a 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 victory over world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final.

She is the first woman since Svetlana Kuznetsova to beat the top two players at the same major, the Russian having beaten No 2 Serena Williams and No 1 Dinara Safina at the 2009 French Open.

But Keys is the first in two decades to beat the world’s top two in the semi-final and final of a major, matching Venus Williams’ feat of defeating Maria Sharapova and Lindsay Davenport at Wimbledon in 2005.

Three-set epics

After beating Danielle Collins in straight sets in the third round, Keys then defeated Elena Rybakina, Elina Svitolina, Swiatek, and Sabalenka all in three sets.

That makes her one of just four women in the Open Era to win four straight three-set matches on her way to Grand Slam glory.

She follows in the footsteps of Sue Barker (1976 French Open), Conchita Martinez (Wimbledon 1994), Sharapova (2014 French Open), and Jelena Ostapenko (2017 French Open).

Factoring in her three-set win over Elena-Gabriela Ruse in the second round, she joins Ostapenko and Serena Williams (2015 French Open) in being one of three women to win five three-set matches on her way to major glory.

Top-10 seeds beaten

Alongside her wins over second seed Swiatek and top seed Sabalenka, 10th seed Collins and sixth seed Rybakina were among the players Keys defeated on her road to the title.

In the 57 years of the Open Era, she is now just the fourth major champion who has beaten four top-10 seeds on her way to winning a women’s singles major.

Keys follows in the footsteps of Evonne Goolagong (1980 Wimbledon), Mary Pierce (1995 Australian Open), and Li Na (2011 French Open).

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