American tennis player Madison Keys became the oldest woman to win her maiden Grand Slam title on Saturday. She had enjoyed likely the best major tournament in her career, defeating Iga Świątek and qualified for the Women's singles final. It was the second Grand Slam singles final which she participated in, having also qualified for the US Open Final in 2017, which she had lost.
This time, she faced Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, who had just risen to be the world number one ranked woman, and who had won the previous two Australian Open single's titles. But it was Keys who played far better when it counted the most, keeping her cool in the heat down under, and ultimately defeating a visibly frustrated Sabalenka, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5. She became the first woman in a decade and a half to defeat both the world number one and the world number two Świątek to win a Grand Slam title, with Svetlana Kuznetsova having last accomplished the feat at the French Open in 2009.
On the men's side, it was a battle between the two top-ranked men in the world. Number one Jannik Sinner of Italy was hoping for a successful title defense, having won his first Grand Slam title in Melbourne last year. He faced German world number two Alexander Zverev, who has been knocking on the door of capturing a Grand Slam title for years, but has never managed to win one as of yet.
Sinner cruised to a decisive win in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3. It cemented his world number one ranking still further, which he has held for many months now, since winning last year's US Open. Sinner does not look like the physical specimen we have seen enjoying top success in tennis. He is tall, skinny, and appears almost gawky at times. Yet, what I noticed is that it seems that no man can get him to consistently move away from the middle of the court. Meanwhile, Sinner has good angles with his own shots, consistently throwing his opponent in awkward and compromising positions. It's an approach that has been working well for him now for quite a while, as he rocketed to the top of the men's rankings. In just over one year's time, he has managed to win three Grand Slams (the two Australians and the US Open) and to end last year as the world number one. Most impressive.
After the match, Zverev explained how he does not want to be considered the greatest men's tennis player never to have won a Grand Slam title, with this marking the third overall appearance in a Grand Slam final (he is now 0-3 in those appearances. However, his post-match speech was interrupted by a woman shouting at him for domestic abuse charges.
One other thing. Earlier today, just days following the end of the Australian Open tournament, tennis legend Novak Djokovic seems to be in the middle of controversy. He was booed after withdrawing early from his semifinal match against Zverev, which has generated controversy. Also, the injury which caused the withdrawal appears to be quite serious, as the hamstring injury will apparently sideline him for the next few months at least.
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