How Madison Keys overcame the doubts to finally achieve grand slam breakthrough

Madison Keys was 11 years old when she was first told she could win a grand slam. She remembered the excitement she felt, realising the skills and talents she possessed as a junior had the potential to grow into trophies, titles and life-changing success. At 14, Keys played her first professional match. A year later, she won her first tournament on the ITF circuit. Everyone could see the direction Keys was heading in, as if her destiny was written.

Then, at 22, Keys reached her first grand slam final at the US Open. In the biggest match of her life and on the biggest court in tennis, she was blown away by Sloane Stephens in just 61 minutes. The defeat was devastating. For Keys, as time progressed and the years slipped away without a major, the expectation of fulfilling her potential turned into a “burden”. The American became overwhelmed by the fear of failure, of the thought of ending her career with nothing to show for it.

But on Saturday, at the age of 29, Keys took the final step on that journey, becoming a grand slam champion for the first time with victory in the Australian Open final, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 over world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka. Keys took the long road, becoming the fourth-oldest first-time grand slam champion in history. Eight years on from the US Open final defeat that could have otherwise defined her, Keys revealed the doubts she had managed to overcome. “I didn’t know if I was going to be able to get back into this position to win a trophy again,” she said.

Eight years is the longest gap between two women’s grand slam finals in the Open era. Hers is a story of perseverance, with Keys making the third-most appearances at grand slam tournaments before winning one, in what was her 46th attempt. In the final, she defeated Sabalenka, a player on a 20-match winning run in Melbourne, having survived match point against world No 2 Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals. Ranked as the 16th seed, the American is the first player in 16 years to beat the top two players in the world on the way to winning a grand slam.

Though aside from the records and statistics of an unlikely, improbable triumph, the turning point for Keys was found within herself. She found a way to let go of the burden that had been hanging around her neck, freeing herself of the weight of expectation that had followed her since she was far too young. “Everything happens for a reason, I kind of had to go through some tough things,” she said. “It forced me to look at myself in the mirror and try to work on the pressure that I was putting on myself.

“I felt like from a pretty young age, I felt like if I never won a grand slam, then I wouldn’t have lived up to what people thought I should have been. I finally got to the point where I was proud of myself and proud of my career, with or without a grand slam. I finally got to the point where I was OK if it didn’t happen. I didn’t need it to feel like I had a good career or that I deserved to be talked about as a great tennis player.”

Therapy helped. “I honestly think that had I not done that, then I wouldn’t be sitting here,” Keys said. She asked herself honest and uncomfortable questions of herself, and the answers she found provided the clarity to play her natural game. “I was starting to be a little bit more clear-headed and present on court,” Keys said.

Despite struggling with injuries, she saw improvement in the 2024 season. In November, she married her partner and newly appointed coach Bjorn Fratangelo, a former ATP player whom Keys asked to join her team when he retired in 2023. Fratangelo reluctantly accepted. Gradually, the changes began to pay off. Keys even switched her racket, more than 15 years into her professional career, opting to play with a Yonex model for the first time in December.

She started the season by lifting the title in Adelaide. “I just feel like it’s one of those things that slowly keeps building,” she said. “All of a sudden, you’re winning a bunch of matches.” She beat four top-15 players at the Australian Open, Sabalenka, Swiatek and two former finalists in Danielle Collins and Elena Rybakina. Five of her seven matches went the distance. Her win over Swiatek, in a match tiebreak, became an instant classic. “I think winning the other night against Iga was a big hurdle where I felt like… I always believed that I could do it, but to do it that way, I thought to myself after the match that I can absolutely win,” Keys said.

Against Sabalenka, Keys kept telling herself to stay brave in the big points. The world No 1 was aiming to win a third Australian Open title in a row, and a second from a set down. After Keys played lights out in the opening set, Sabalenka improved to level the match and pressed for the break in the deciding set. The momentum looked to have turned but in the battle of two big hitters, Keys overpowered her. “If she can play consistently like that, I mean, there’s not much you can do,” Sabalenka admitted. The Belarusian was left to smash her racket in frustration.

The final games were tight until Keys was presented with two championship points against the Sabalenka serve. The first was quickly saved. On the second, the ball sat up for Keys’s forehand perfectly. And in the biggest moment of her career, in the culmination of her journey, Keys was able to let go.