TATJANA MARIA VS. MADISON KEYS | EASTBOUNE FINAL

 

MADISON KEYS VS. XINYU WANG | ROUND 1 | WTA HIGHLIGHTS | BERLIN 2026

 

MADISON KEYS VS. BELINDA BENCIC | CHARLESTON QUARTERFINAL

 

ASHLYN KRUEGER VS. MADISON KEYS

 

AMANDA ANISIMOVA VS. MADISON KEYS | WTA FINALS | RIYADH

 

MADISON KEYS VS. RENATA ZARAZUA | US OPEN 2025 | ROUND 1

3 AMERICAN WOMEN MAKE RANKED IN TOP 5

 

MADISON KEYS AO FINAL PRESS CONFERENCE

 

MADISON KEYS ON-COURT INTERVIEW | AO FINAL

 

ARYNA SABALENKA VS. MADISON KEYS | AO EXTENDED FINAL HIGHLIGHTS

ARYNA SABALENKA VS. MADISON KEYS | AO ANIMATED | AUSTRALIAN OPEN FINAL

MADISON KEYS STUNS ARYNA SABALENKA IN THRILLER TO WIN AUSTRALIA OPEN TITLE

Madison Keys holds the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup and poses with ball kids after defeating Aryna Sabalenka at the Australian Open tennis champion

Underdog Madison Keys upset Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 in the Australian Open final on Saturday to win her first Grand Slam crown at the age of 29.

The American ended world number one Sabalenka's dream of becoming the first woman for 26 years to win a third successive Melbourne Park singles title.

Keys yelled in delight and wiped away tears on securing the title after withstanding a fierce fightback from the Belarusian two-time defending champion.

Sabalenka, the 2023 and 2024 champion, buried her head in a towel after her 20-match win streak at Melbourne Park was ended.

For 19th-seeded Keys it was the culmination of a 15-year journey from teenage prodigy to major winner.

Madison Keys, right, reacts as she holds the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup after defeating Aryna Sabalenka. AP

"I have wanted this for so long and I have been in one other Grand Slam final and it did not go my way," said an emotional Keys, whose coach Bjorn Fratangelo is also her husband. "I didn't know if I was ever going to get back to this position to try to win a trophy again."

The American had been tipped as a future world number one after winning her maiden WTA Tour match at the age of 14.

Madison Keys plays a forehand return to Aryna Sabalenka. AP

She made her first major semi-final at Melbourne Park 10 years ago as a 19-year-old, but a decade on she can finally call herself a Grand Slam champion.

"I made my very first Grand Slam semi-final here in Melbourne," said Keys, the runner-up at the US Open in 2017.

"So to now have won my first Grand Slam in the same place means the absolute world to me. "My team believed in me every step of the way. So thank you so much," added Keys, who will now equal her career-high seventh in the world ranking she attained nine years ago.

Madison Keys is embraced by her team as she holds the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup after defeating Aryna Sabalenka. AP.

Madison Keys is embraced by her team as she holds the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup after defeating Aryna Sabalenka. AP

"They believed in me when I didn't believe in myself, and helped me every step of the way. Last year was so tough, with some really bad injuries, I didn't know if I was gonna be able to do it again."

'What a tournament'

Keys becomes the fourth oldest first-time winner of a major since the Open Era began in 1968.

Sabalenka was gracious after a first Melbourne defeat since 2022. "First of all, Madison, what a tournament. You have been fighting really hard to get this trophy," Sabalenka said. "I really feel like it's home when I'm here and I'll come back stronger and do my best next year."

It was Keys who came out of the blocks playing exemplary tennis to put Sabalenka under pressure and race to the first set in 35 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.

Madison Keys holds the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup after defeating Aryna Sabalenka. AP

Madison Keys holds the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup after defeating Aryna Sabalenka. AP

The Belarusian began to flip the script in the second set, breaking in the third game and moving ominously ahead 3-1.

Another break followed on a brilliant Sabalenka cross-court pass and she levelled the match after an hour and 20 minutes on court.

The 26-year-old Sabalenka by now was timing the ball much better and a younger Keys might have buckled. But this mature version of Keys, who battled all the way to beat Iga Swiatek in a 10-point final-set tiebreak in the semi-finals, is made of sterner stuff.

At 5-6 when Sabalenka served to take it to another final-set tiebreak, Keys brought up two match points.

She held her nerve to secure the long-awaited title on the second with her 29th winner after 2hr 2min.

- Agence France-Presse

COCO GAUFF VS. MADISON KEYS | MADRID OPEN 2024

 

TOP 10S: RANKING THE BEST MEN'S AND WOMEN'S PLAYERS HEADING INTO 2024

 

Coco Gauff, ranked No. 3 in the world, won her first Grand Slam title in September. Getty Images

It was an odd year for American tennis.

There were, as always, random thrills and breakthroughs. On the men's side, for instance, Tommy Paul reached the semifinals of the Australian Open, and Christopher Eubanks enjoyed a late-career breakthrough at Wimbledon. But the year as a whole often felt like one of stagnation.

Taylor Fritz basically ended the year where he started from a rankings standpoint and couldn't turn a top-10 ranking into sustained threats in Grand Slams. Frances Tiafoe dipped his toe into the ATP top 10 but suffered a major funk at the end of the year. Sebastian Korda seemed primed for a breakthrough but missed months with an injury. Reilly Opelka was still working back from injury. Jenson Brooksby was suspended for 18 months for missed drug tests. John Isner faded, then retired.

On the women's side, Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff both remained steady threats, but for much of the year, they, too, seemed to be running in place a bit. Veterans like Madison Keys, Danielle Collins and Sloane Stephens battled consistency issues. Jennifer Brady was still working back from injury.

The US Open changed quite a bit. Gauff kicked into top-three mode over the summer and rode it to her first Slam title, while Keys came within a heartbreaking third-set tiebreak loss of the finals. Meanwhile, Fritz, Tiafoe and up-and-comer Ben Shelton broke into the quarterfinals, with the 21-year-old Shelton swaggering his way into the semis.

With lots of stars making gains and a couple breaking through in a major way, suddenly 2023 went from a year of stagnation to tantalizing development and depth. What will 2024 have in store? Do players such as Pegula, Fritz and Tiafoe still have another level to add to their respective games? Can Gauff maintain her otherworldly summer and fall form? Does Shelton's trajectory continue? Acknowledging that there are also surprises -- and that tennis' brief offseason is the perfect time for "Here's where [player] overcomes injuries and surges again" optimism -- here are our predictions for the top 10 American men and women, ranked by their 2024 prospects.

Jessica Pegula has reached the quarterfinals of five of her last eight Grand Slams. Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports

MADISON KEYS VS. ARYNA SABALENKA | SEMI-FINAL HIGHLIGHTS | US OPEN 2023

MARKETA VONDROUSOVA VS. MADISON KEYS | HIGHLIGHTS | US OPEN 2023

KEYS UPSETS PEGULA IN ALL-AMERICAN CLASH TO REACH U.S. OPEN QUARTERS

Reuters 

Madison Keys stunned third seed Jessica Pegula 6-1 6-3 in an all-American clash on Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday, reaching the U.S. Open quarter-final for the first time since 2018.

Keys crashed out of the first round at Cincinnati last month but appeared right at home on the New York hard courts, where she was runner-up in 2017, as she overwhelmed her opponent with 21 winners.

Pegula beat the 17th seed Keys in their only previous meeting last year and was considered as one of the U.S.'s brightest hopes after winning the Montreal title last month.

However, on Monday she lacked her usual firepower and finesse.

WTA ROUNDUP: COCO GAUFF CRUISES PAST JESSICA PEGULA INTO SEMIS

 

Reuters 

Fifth-seeded Coco Gauff breezed past No. 3 Jessica Pegula in an all-American quarterfinal match Thursday at the Rothesay International in Eastbourne, England.

Gauff fired three aces en route to a 6-3, 6-3 wi in just 68 minutes. Gauff converted five of seve break points to advance to the semifinals, where she'll play another fellow American, Madison Keys.

The unseeded Keys scored a 6-4, 6-1 win over Petra Martic of Croatia.

Meanwhile, No. 2 seed Caroline Garcia of France was forced to retire in the second set, trailing No. 9 Daria Kasatkina 6-2, 2-1.

Italian Camila Giorgi also advanced when Jelena Ostapenko retired after the first set. Giorgi won the opener 7-6 (8) in one hour and 12 minutes.

Bad Homburg

World No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland continued her grass court tuneup with a dominating 6-3, 6-2 over No. 9 Anna Blinkova of Russia at Bad Homburg, Germany.

Swiatek draws Italy's Lucia Bronzetti in the semifinals. Bronzetti posted a 6-4, 6-3 upset of No. 8 seed Varvara Gracheva of France.

Also, Emma Navarro advanced when Rebeka Masarova of Spain retired in the second set with the players knotted at 1-1. Masarova took the first set 7-6 (2).

The other quarterfinal between Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Repuboic and second-seeded Liudmila Samsonova of Russia was suspended due to darkness. The match will pick up in the third set after Siniakova won the first set 7-5 and Samsonova the second, 6-4. The match is already eight minutes shy of two hours.

--Field Level Media

WTA ROUNDUP: COCO GAUFF CRUISES INTO QUARTERFINALS

Reuters 

Fifth-seeded Coco Gauff needed 59 minutes to advance while No. 4 Ons Jabeur was eliminated in the second round of the Rothesay International on Wednesday in Eastbourne, England.

WTA ROUNDUP: IGA SWIATEK WINS FIRST GRASS-COURT MATCH IN 2023

 

AP

It took World No.1 Iga Swiatek a little time on Monday to acclimate to the grass under her feet in the first round of the Bad Homburg Open. But only a set.

Swiatek, who won the French Open on the clay courts in Paris earlier this month, won her first grass-court match of the season against 2022 Wimbledon semifinalist Tatjana Maria 5-7, 6-2, 6-0 in Bad Homburg, Germany. Swiatek now has a 36-6 record this season.