By Vanessa Hofer
Ten years after her first appearance at a Grand Slam semifinal in 2015, Madison Keys secured her first Grand Slam title at the 2025 Australian Open. From her biography on “pulsesports” we know that Madison Keys is an American tennis player who was born in Rock Island, Illinois, in 1995, and found her love for tennis while watching the Grand Slam Wimbledon on television with only four years old. The breakthrough in her tennis career was in 2014, claiming her first WTA title after defeating two top 10 players.
The article “Madison Keys completes historic run to first Grand Slam title at 2025 Australian Open”, by Arthur Kapetanakis says the following:
Starting off as the 19th seed in the tournament, Keys had an unbelievable journey to secure her first Grand Slam trophy. While being the fourth tennis player to beat four top 10 seeds, she is also the third player to win five three-setters on the way to the title. Doing so, Madison Keys beat 10th seed Danielle Collins in the third round, 6th seed Elena Rybakina in the fourth round, 28th seed Elina Svitolina in quarterfinals, as well as the world No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the semifinals. In the major final of the Australian Open 2025, Madison Keys conquered world No. 1 and two-time defending Australian Open champion, Aryna Sabalenka in a three setter of 6-3, 2-6, 7-5.
The 29-year-old is now one of five American females to win the Australian Open since 2000, following in the footsteps of Lindsay Davenport, Jennifer Capriati, Serena Williams, and Sofia Kenin. She is also the oldest first-time Grand Slam champion in women’s singles, next to Flavia Pennetta, who won the 2015 US Open at 33 years old. Before securing that first Grand Slam title, Madison Keys had to play a whole of 46 Grand Slam tournaments. Apart from her first major title, Keys now joins the other three American females in the top 10 ranking of the world, being the No. 7.
For Madison Keys the win means more than just the ranking and the price money of $2,200,000, though. During the trophy ceremony she says: “I have wanted this for so long. I didn’t know if I was ever going to be able to get back to this position to try to win a trophy again. My team believed in me every step of the way, so thank you so much!”
