Aryna Sabalenka broke down in tears under her towel after losing the Australian Open final to Madison Keys.
The world No 1 smashed her racket on the ground in frustration after succumbing 3-6, 6-2, 5-7 to the American.
It denied Sabalenka a third consecutive triumph at the Aussie Open after she won the tournament in 2023 and 2024.
The Belarusian had to reach the final the hard way, beating her close friend Paula Badosa in the semi-finals, but could not muster the power to beat one of the biggest hitters in the game.
After congratulating Keys, Sabalenka covered her face with her towel in front of the 15,000 fans on Rod Laver Arena before storming off to her locker room.
This was Keys’ first Grand Slam final since 2017 and her first Major win, marking a shock against the heavily fancied Sabalenka.
Aryna Sabalenka smashes her racket on the ground after losing the Australian Open final
She hid her face beneath her towel in an emotional moment after losing to Madison Keys
Keys, the world No 19, lifted her first Grand Slam title after her first final in eight long years
Keys, the world No 19, becomes the fourth-oldest woman to win her first Grand Slam crown at the age of 29.
‘I have wanted this for so long, I never knew if I’d be in this position again,’ said Keys.
The 29-year-old admitted she had ‘thought about that match endlessly for the past eight years’ and it was clear from the first there would be no repeat.
Rather, it was double-defending champion Sabalenka who started edgily, double faulting twice in the opening game to concede a break.
At 1-3 she double faulted again to concede break point and Keys chopped back a Sabalenka-esque forehand slice which gripped in the court and bounced too low to handle.
In the next game Keys played an exceptional cross court backhand drop shot, a note of pure poetry amid the heavy metal. Carlos Alcaraz would have been proud of such a shot and it was a weapon that was simply not in the Keys armoury a year ago.
As coach and husband Bjorn Fratangelo said before the final: ‘Sharpening the axe can get you so far, but sometimes you just need new tools.’ Well that defensive slice forehand, skimming like a bird above water, was a new tool and that drop shot was another.
If Keys needed any bulwark against complacency then could remember the 2023 US Open semi-final when she lost to Sabalenka in a heartbreaker after taking the first set 6-0.
Keys is a Grand Slam champion at last, fulfilling the destiny that had been laid out for her since she turned pro at the precocious age of 14
After saving a match point to beat world No2 Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals, Keys took out world No 1 Sabalenka 6-3, 2-6, 7-5
What a credit to the two of them that they have been able to combine marital bliss with the tempestuous relationship of coach and player. It could all have gone so wrong; it matters little whether a racket is Wilson or Yonex when your wife buries it in your skull.
Sabalenka edged her way back into the set, increasing her ball speed.
Serving at 5-3, 30-30, Sabalenka was in the ascendancy. A hold here would have forced Keys to serve for the set having lost three games in a row. But a fourth double fault chose the most inopportune time to arrive and then Keys smoked a backhand down the line to take the set.
Sabalenka had at least achieved what Swiatek had failed to do in the second set of the semi-final – she had stopped the bleeding, established a speed bump before the rollocking Keys station wagon.
She missed some big chances in the first game of the second set, on Keys’ serve, duffing an overhead and, on break point, netting a simple pass.
‘Let’s go tiger, come on girl’, said a voice from the crowd and Sabalenka broke to take the lead, thumping a backhand winner. She was playing faster and flatter, forcing Keys either to defend – not likely – or attack from less promising positions.
Sabalenka was raising the volume now, a roar of effort becoming a scream of triumph as she ripped a passing shot to go a double break up on the way to squaring the match.
That was two fairly one-sided sets, then, and now we hoped for a nail-biting decider. The exceptional serving continued, with 10 holds in a row and zero break points. Both women were seeing it like an Aussie rules football; some of the shot-making took the breath away.
Keys had yearned for this; craved the validation of a major title so deeply that it paralysed her
As the final stages approached neither woman showed an iota of fear, taking on the big shot whenever it was available.
The best of the lot came as Keys served at 5-5, 30-30 – a high-pressure point.
Sabalenka drilled a forehand right at her and Keys got low and half-volleyed a bullet reply that ought to have left scorch marks on the blue court.
That left Sabalenka to serve to stay in the match for a second time and Keys hit a first serve for a clean backhand winner to go 0-30 up. She attacked again at 15-30 and brought up two championship points.
One big Sabalenka serve came down, then another but this time Keys was over it and hit that backhand down the line again. Back it came but there was no fear, no doubt and no nerves.
That ferocious forehand which has been her calling card since her teenage years struck once; it struck twice and it was over.
