Madison Keys stuns Aryna Sabalenka to capture maiden Grand Slam title

Keys made a shocking begin to the competition, managing a break within the very first sport of the match earlier than breaking the defending champion two extra occasions within the first set.

The match was harking back to their final main tussle within the semi-final of the 2023 US Open the place Sabalenka bounced again from a first-set bagel to disclaim Keys a spot in her second Grand Slam ultimate.

The US star would have had flashbacks from that match as Sabalenka broke her serve within the third sport of the second set to go 2-1 up.

Sabalenka obtained the double break within the fifth sport as she performed with elevated confidence and extra accuracy to ship the match into the deciding third set.

The third was an engrossing duel with gamers producing excellent tennis and neither gaining a decisive benefit.

Keys finallty discovered a well beyond Sabalenka’s defences to clinch the decider 7-5 earlier than clutching her head in disbelief.

The shock winner shared an emotional hug with husband and coach Bjorn Fratangelo.

After an injury-hit 2024, she determined to modify racket producers within the off season.

And the gutsy transfer paid off.

The victory comes a decade after Keys burst onto the worldwide tennis scene reaching the Australian Open semi-finals when she was simply 19 years outdated.

In her solely different Grand Slam ultimate, Keys suffered a crushing 6-3, 6-0 defeat to pal Sloane Stephens on the 2017 US Open.