American Madison Keys won the Australian Open women's tennis championship. Keys defeated Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 in the final match of the tournament and lifted her first Grand Slam title, BTA reported.
The 19th-seeded Keys needed two hours and 4 minutes to achieve the historic success. The American had only one previous final at a similar level, reaching the US Open title match in 2017.
Madison Keys started with a break of 30, and later reached another one for 4-1 in her favor. Sabalenka found strength and saved another break opportunity, and subsequently took her opponent's serve and reached 3:5. However, Keys again managed to break Aryna's serve and reached 6:3 in her favor. The second set was different. Sabalenka imposed her high tempo and quickly made two breaks, which brought her a 5:1 lead. The Belarusian tennis player managed to close the set with 6:2.
The decisive third set was very contested. Both players were categorical in their serves and neither of them had a chance to break. The situation changed only at 6:5 in favor of Keys. The American had two break opportunities and succeeded in the second, thus dethroning the two-time champion in Melbourne – Sabalenka.
The Belarusian player missed out on joining the legends of the sport - Daphne Akhurst (Australia), Nancy Bolton (Australia), Margaret Smith (Australia), Yvonne Goolagong (Australia), Monica Seles (Yugoslavia), Steffi Graf (Germany) and Martina Hingis (Switzerland) - who have lifted the trophy in Australia more than twice in a row. Germany's Alexander Zverev and Italy's Yannick Sinner will play in the men's final on Sunday.