BY: ARINOLA AMODU
Eight years after reaching her first Australian Open quarter-finals, Madison Keys won her first career grand slam and her first Australian Open women’s singles title at age 29.
She won the Adelaide International earlier this month, defeating fellow American Jessica Pegula, setting her in a great mood heading into the Australian Open.
She joins the elite League of Americans who have won the Australian Open Singles titles and becomes the fifth American to win the grand slam since 2000, and the first American to win it since Sofia Kenin in 2020.
Madison Keys might have played her best tennis so far at the Australian Open, She faced and defeated World No. 2 Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina, Elian Svitolina, Danielle Collins, and Elena Gabriel-Ruse on her path to the final. And in the final, defeated 2-time reigning champion Aryna Sabalenka 6-2, 3-6, 7-5. To deny her a 3-peat.
Now world no. 7, (at least till Monday) a rank she last achieved in October 2016. The last time she was in the Grandslam final was in the US Open in 2017, where she lost to Sloane Stephens in straight sets. She was also in the French Open semi-final in 2018 but lost to Simona Halep the eventual winner that year.
This monumental milestone marks a new dawn in Madison Keys’ career and a significant chapter in the WTA as a whole.
