By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday January 24, 2025

We are down to two on the women’s side at the 2025 Australian Open. Top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka will go for history on Saturday night in Melbourne, bidding to complete the first women’s singles three-peat at the Aussie Open in 26 years, while 19th-seeded Madison Keys will try to spoil the party.



Join us for a look inside Saturday’s final:

Aryna Sabalenka vs Madison Keys
Head-to-Head: Sabalenka leads, 4-1

Key stat for Keys:

Keys could win the Australian Open title in her 46th Grand Slam appearance; only two players have taken more appearances for their maiden Grand Slam singles title during the Open Era: Flavia Pennetta (US Open 2015 – 49) & Marion Bartoli (Wimbledon 2013 – 47).

Key stat for Sabalenka:

Sabalenka is bidding for her third consecutive title at the Australian Open; she would be the sixth woman to win threestraight Australian Open titles – also achieved by Margaret Court (1969-1971), Evonne Goolagong (1974-1976), Steffi Graf (1988-1990), Monica Seles (1991-1993) and Martina Hingis (1997-1999).



The last time they met:

The pair last met at Beijing in the fall of 2024, with Sabalenka winning in straight sets. The World No.1 has taken her last three meetings with Keys, including a dramatic comeback win in the 2023 US Open semifinals (0-6, 7-6, 7-6).

What Sabalenka is saying:

On possibly completing the first Australian Open women’s singles three-peat since 1999: “That's crazy that I was able to put myself on the situation where I have chance to put my name next to the legends. I mean, I couldn't even dream about that. It's going to mean a lot for me.”



On facing Keys at the US Open in 2023: “I was under so much pressure. It felt like she was just going for her shots, and everything was going in. She was just crushing it. I think at some moments she was just, like, start questioning herself. I saw that and I felt like, Okay, now is the moment to make sure that you put as many balls back as you can. I think that was the crucial moment. I just turn around things.”

What Keys is saying:

On getting over her loss to Sabalenka in 2023 at the US Open: “I would be lying if I said that there weren't doubts. I think that felt like such a huge moment. I felt like I was so close. To be that close and to lose it was just so heartbreaking. I felt like I'd really left it all out there. That's really all you can ask.

“That one took a little while to kind of heal from and get past, but I think at the same time I just kept telling myself that if I just keep putting in the work and doing my best and leaving it all out there, that's the only thing that I can do and that's the only thing that I can control.”



On what impresses her most about Sabalenka: “I think what's really impressive is her mentality. I think her ability to kind of always go for it, no matter what the score is, is really impressive. She plays such fearless tennis. She has the ability to play so well that way. I think it's very unique. I think a lot of people, no matter what, even if it was a tight point, you kind of expect them to play a little bit more conservative or back down a little bit, and you know she's not going to do that.”



The Skinny

If you prefer the percussion of penetrating ground strokes and like a little thunder with your lightning then Saturday's hard-hitting clash between Aryna Sabalenka and Madison Keys is for you.

Two of the purest ball strikers in the game today, both flying high with confidence, and both gunning for history in their own way — what’s not to like?

We all know how big this final is for Sabalenka. She is the queen of the hardcourt majors of late, reaching her fifth consecutive one here in Melbourne with her straight-set thrashing of Paula Badosa in the semis. On Saturday the World No. 1 will bid for her third consecutive Australian open title and her fourth major title overall.

Meanwhile, Keys has been an absolute force thus far in 2025, winning her last 11 of her matches and delivering in the clutch like she never has before.

She stunned World No. 2 Iga swiatek on Thursday night, saving a match point before taking down the five-time major champion in a match tiebreak. If there was ever a time for Keys to break through, it would be now, when she’s riding high on confidence and profiting from her new coaching relationship with her husband, Bjorn Fratangelo, as well as her new maneuverable Yonex racquet.

Can Keys, who lost her only previous Grand Slam final to Sloane Stevens at the U.S. Open in 2017, finally break through on the biggest stage in the sport? Or is it Sabalenka’s time to reassert her dominance over the field?

Odds favor Sabalenka but don’t sleep on Keys. This is not the same player that was a deer in the headlights in the 2017 US Open final. At 29 she’s been through the ringer and come out the other side.

Now it’s time for both to let it ride…