American Madison Keys won her first tennis grand slam title and Taylor Townsend won her second grand slam title this weekend at the Australian Open. The Australian Open kicks off the professional tennis year as the first of four grand slam, or major, tournaments.
Keys took home a $2.2 million check for her victory and Townsend shared $507,000 with her doubles partner Katerina Siniakova.
Keys Path
At age 29, Keys is finally a grand slam winner.
Keys was considered a future star before she was a teen, and this was her second chance to play for a major title: The first ended in a lopsided loss at the 2017 U.S. Open, an experience that taught her she would need to be able to play through nerves.
It was only after accepting she might never capture a Slam title, and would be fine with that — a change that came after years of therapy — that Keys actually got there.
“From a pretty young age, I felt like if I never won a Grand Slam, then I wouldn’t have lived up to what people thought I should have been. That was a pretty heavy burden to kind of carry around,” said Keys, who reached her first major semifinal a decade ago in Australia .
“So I finally got to the point where I was proud of myself and proud of my career, with or without a Grand Slam. I finally got to the point where I was OK if it didn’t happen. I didn’t need it to feel like I had a good career or that I deserved to be talked about as a great tennis player,” she said. “I feel like finally letting go of that kind of internal talk that I had just gave me the ability to actually go out and play some really good tennis to actually win a Grand Slam.”
Sure did. Keys, born in Illinois and now based in Florida, is the oldest woman to become a first-time Slam champ since Flavia Pennetta, who was 33 at the 2015 U.S. Open. This was the 46th Slam appearance for Keys, the third most before winning a women’s major title, behind only Pennetta’s 49 and Marion Bartoli’s 47 when she won Wimbledon in 2013.
Keys didn’t take an easy path, either. Before this three-set victory over No. 1 Sabalanka, Keys beat No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the semifinals, saving a match point along the way. Not since Serena Williams in 2005 had a player defeated both of the WTA’s top two women at the Australian OPen
Keys who was ranked 14th and seeded 19th going into the tournament, moves up to No. 7, matching her highest ranking ever that came in 2017 when she made her run to the finals of the U.S. Open.
One of the most popular figures in the Hologic WTA Tour locker room, Keys was flooded with congratulatory messages from players she’s faced throughout her career — from Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula to Petra Kvitova and Ana Ivanovic.
“so deserved 🥲 Go Madiii!!!,” penned Coco Gauff, who lost in the Australian Open in the quarter finals round.
“It was never if, just when. You deserve this and beyond 🏆♥️,” penned Stephens, who Keys lost to in her only other Grand Slam final.
Townsend’s Path
Townsend returned to the court on which her career first took flight, teaming with Siniakova to beat Hsieh Su-Wei and Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-3 in the women’s doubles final Sunday at the Australian Open.
“This is super-special to me,” Townsend said. “The last time I played on this court I was 15 and in 2012 I won the juniors here and that was the kick-start.
“Honestly, being here is so special to me because this tournament was the beginning of me being able to live out my dream.”
Top-seeded Townsend and Siniakova of the Czech Republic, who were top seeds in the tournament, were able to fall back on proven teamwork on crucial points. This was their third Grand Slam together: they won Wimbledon last year and reached the semifinals of the US Open.
Like Keys, it’s taken Townsend time to live up to early expectations generated from her success as a juniors player. Townsend was the ITF Junior World Champion in 2012, winning not just the Australian Open singles, but also the doubles title.
Early in her professional career, Towsend faced criticism for not fitting the typical body image expected of a tennis player.
Despite her success in doubles, Townsend’s singles career has had its ups and downs. Her highest singles ranking was No. 46.
Townsend took a significant break from tennis after giving birth to her son in 2021, she’s rebuilt well since returning to the sport in summer 2022.