A thriller at Rod Laver Area in Melbourne noticed American Madison Keys upset No. 1-ranked girls’s singles participant Aryna Sabalenka to win the Australian Open on Saturday.
After shaking arms with the victor, Sabalenka set free her feelings on her racket.
Sabalenka, who was seeking to develop into the primary participant since Martina Hingis to win three straight Australian Opens, fell to Keys, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, within the match, which gave her opponent her first-ever Grand Slam title.
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Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus reacts after the ladies’s singles closing towards Madison Keys of the U.S. on the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Picture/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
Sabalenka shook Keys’ hand on the web, adopted by the chair umpire, however she was seen slamming her racket and throwing it on the bench as soon as the niceties have been completed.
Sabalenka then lined her face in a towel earlier than storming off into the locker room.
The warmth of competitors not going your means in the long run will be powerful to swallow within the second, and Sabalenka mentioned as a lot throughout his post-match press convention.
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“There undoubtedly was a little bit of frustration, as a result of I used to be so shut to realize one thing loopy,” she mentioned, per The New York Post. “Whenever you’re on the market, you’re combating, however it looks like the whole lot (is just not) going the way in which you really need (it) to go.”
Sabalenka added that she “simply wanted to throw these damaging feelings on the finish,” and she or he did so actually to her Wilson racket. She mentioned she wanted to do this “so I may give a speech (and) not stand there being disrespectful.”
“I used to be simply making an attempt to let it go and be a great individual,” Sabalenka mentioned.
Getting the uncooked emotion out appeared to work, as Sabalenka was seen joking together with her staff after the loss.
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Aryna Sabalenka interviews after her match towards Paula Badosa of Spain within the semifinals of the ladies’s singles on the 2025 Australian Open at Melbourne Park. (Mike Frey-Imagn Pictures)
“As all the time, that’s your fault guys,” she mentioned, laughing. “I don’t wanna see you for the subsequent week. I actually hate you. No thanks for the whole lot you’re doing for me and blah, blah, blah.”
Sabalenka received again to a critical observe, although, addressing Keys.
“I feel we did our greatest,” Sabalenka mentioned. “Simply Madison was enjoying unbelievable. I simply couldn’t do something on this match. Subsequent time I play towards Madison, I convey higher tennis.”
As for Keys, she additionally confirmed like to Sabalenka, saying it was “unbelievable enjoying” on her half. She additionally famous, at age 29, that she by no means thought she’d win a Grand Slam regardless of coming shut up to now.
“From a fairly younger age, I felt like if I by no means received a Grand Slam, then I wouldn’t have lived as much as what folks thought I ought to have been. That was a fairly heavy burden to sort of carry round,” Keys mentioned.
Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus reacts in the course of the girls’s singles closing towards Madison Keys of the U.S. on the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Picture/Ng Han Guan)
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“So, I lastly received to the purpose the place I used to be pleased with myself and pleased with my profession, with or with out a Grand Slam. I lastly received to the purpose the place I used to be OK if it didn’t occur. I didn’t want it, to really feel like I had a great profession or that I deserved to be talked about as an incredible tennis participant.
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