Exactly a year ago, Madison Keys was in Adelaide ready to start what turned out to be “a perfect three weeks” of tennis Down Under.
The American scooped up five wins in a row – all against women ranked in the top 25 – to clinch the title in Adelaide. She then flew to Melbourne and added seven more victories, including ones over the world’s top two Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, to lift the first Grand Slam trophy of her career.
Achieving that just a few weeks shy of her 30th birthday, Keys became the oldest first-time Australian Open women’s champion in the Open Era and the first player to beat the world’s top two at the same major in 16 years.
“A year later it feels a little bit more real. But it will still be obviously the highlight of my career,” Keys said in Adelaide on Sunday ahead of her title defence.
“And it's an amazing experience here, and the fact that it was basically a perfect three weeks. I'm not sure I could ever replicate that, and I'm certainly not going to be trying to replicate that.”
Starting her 2025 on such a high note and fulfilling her lifelong goal
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