American Madison Keys wins Australian Open championship

American Madison Keys held off reigning champion Aryna Sabalenka to win her first Grand Slam title.

The top-ranked player in the world, Sabalenka had been looking to win her third straight Australian Open championship.

But Keys took the first set 6-3 before dropping the second set 6-2. She held on to win the third set 7-5 to give the 29-year-old her first major title in her second appearance in a Grand Slam final.

Seeded 19th, Keys has now won 12 straight matches, including an upset of No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the semifinals on Thursday.

Keys is the first woman since Serena Williams in 2005 to defeat both of the WTA’s top two players at Melbourne Park.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Source: espn.com