Aryna Sabalenka broke down in tears under her towel after losing the Australian Open final to Madison Keys.
World No. 1 smashed her racket on the ground in frustration after succumbing to the American 3-6, 6-2, 5-7.
It denied Sabalenka a third consecutive triumph at the Aussie Open after she won the tournament in 2034 and 2024.
The Belarussian had to reach the final the hard way, beating her close friend Paula Badosa in the semi-finals, but could not muster the power to win one of the biggest hitters in the game.
After congratulating Keys, Sabalenka covered her face with her towel in front of the 15,000 fans of Road Laver Arena before storming off to her locker room.
This was Keys' first Grand Slam final since 2017 and her first Major win, marking a shock against the heavily fancied Sabalenka.
Keys, the world No. 19, becomes the fourth-oldest woman to win her first Grand Slam crown at 29.
'I have wanted this for so long, I never knew if I'd be in this position again,' said Keys.
The 29-year-old admitted she had ‘thought about that match endlessly for the past eight years’ and it was clear there would be no repeat from the first.
Rather, it was double-defending champion Sabalenka who started edgily, double-faulting twice in the opening game to concede a break.
At 1-3, she double-faulted again to concede break point and Keys chopped back a Sabalenka-esque forehand slice which gripped in the court and bounced too low to handle.
In the next game Keys played an exceptional cross-court backhand drop shot, a note of pure poetry amid the heavy metal. Carlos Alcaraz would have been proud of such a shot and it was a weapon that was simply not in the Keys armory a year ago.
As coach and husband Bjorn Fratangelo said before the final: ‘Sharpening the axe can get you so far, but sometimes you just need new tools.’ Well, that defensive slice forehand, skimming like a bird above water, was a new tool and that drop shot was another.
If Keys needed any bulwark against complacency then could remember the 2023 US Open semi-final when she lost to Sabalenka in a heartbreaker after taking the first set 6-0.
What a credit to the two of them that they have been able to combine marital bliss with the tempestuous relationship of coach and player. It could all have gone so wrong; it matters little whether a racket is Wilson or Yonex when your wife buries it in your skull.
Sabalenka edged her way back into the set, increasing her ball speed.
Serving at 5-3, 30-30, Sabalenka was in the ascendancy. A hold here would have forced Keys to serve for the set having lost three games in a row. But a fourth double fault chose the most inopportune time to arrive and then Keys smoked a backhand down the line to take the set.
Sabalenka had at least achieved what Swiatek had failed to do in the second set of the semi-final - she had stopped the bleeding and established a speed bump before the rollicking Keys station wagon.
World No. 1 smashed her racket on the ground in frustration after succumbing to the American 3-6, 6-2, 5-7.
It denied Sabalenka a third consecutive triumph at the Aussie Open after she won the tournament in 2034 and 2024.
The Belarussian had to reach the final the hard way, beating her close friend Paula Badosa in the semi-finals, but could not muster the power to win one of the biggest hitters in the game.
After congratulating Keys, Sabalenka covered her face with her towel in front of the 15,000 fans of Road Laver Arena before storming off to her locker room.
This was Keys' first Grand Slam final since 2017 and her first Major win, marking a shock against the heavily fancied Sabalenka.
Keys, the world No. 19, becomes the fourth-oldest woman to win her first Grand Slam crown at 29.
'I have wanted this for so long, I never knew if I'd be in this position again,' said Keys.
The 29-year-old admitted she had ‘thought about that match endlessly for the past eight years’ and it was clear there would be no repeat from the first.
Rather, it was double-defending champion Sabalenka who started edgily, double-faulting twice in the opening game to concede a break.
At 1-3, she double-faulted again to concede break point and Keys chopped back a Sabalenka-esque forehand slice which gripped in the court and bounced too low to handle.
In the next game Keys played an exceptional cross-court backhand drop shot, a note of pure poetry amid the heavy metal. Carlos Alcaraz would have been proud of such a shot and it was a weapon that was simply not in the Keys armory a year ago.
As coach and husband Bjorn Fratangelo said before the final: ‘Sharpening the axe can get you so far, but sometimes you just need new tools.’ Well, that defensive slice forehand, skimming like a bird above water, was a new tool and that drop shot was another.
If Keys needed any bulwark against complacency then could remember the 2023 US Open semi-final when she lost to Sabalenka in a heartbreaker after taking the first set 6-0.
What a credit to the two of them that they have been able to combine marital bliss with the tempestuous relationship of coach and player. It could all have gone so wrong; it matters little whether a racket is Wilson or Yonex when your wife buries it in your skull.
Sabalenka edged her way back into the set, increasing her ball speed.
Serving at 5-3, 30-30, Sabalenka was in the ascendancy. A hold here would have forced Keys to serve for the set having lost three games in a row. But a fourth double fault chose the most inopportune time to arrive and then Keys smoked a backhand down the line to take the set.
Sabalenka had at least achieved what Swiatek had failed to do in the second set of the semi-final - she had stopped the bleeding and established a speed bump before the rollicking Keys station wagon.
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