MELBOURNE, Australia — Aryna Sabalenka threw her racket to the sideline. She sat on a bench with a towel over her head. In Saturday’s final, she lost to Madison Keys 6-3, 2-6, 7-5. She lost to Madison Keys 6-3, 2-6, 7-5. He even left the court briefly before the awards ceremony.
“It’s definitely a little frustrating because I was so close to achieving some crazy goals. When you’re on the court, you’re fighting, but everything doesn’t seem to go the way you really want,” said No. 1 Sabalenka .
“I just need to put those negative feelings aside at the end so I can give my speech and not stand up there and be disrespectful,” Sabalenka added. “I just want to let it go and be a good person.”
She has won 20 consecutive games at Melbourne Park and with another victory on Saturday, Sabalenka will become the first player since Martina Hingis in 1997-99 to Australia completes three consecutive women’s championships.
“It doesn’t matter. I mean, I know after a tough loss, there’s going to be a good win,” Sabalenka said. “So I’m just going to keep working hard and make sure that next time, if I’m in this situation, I’m going to play better.”
This time it was definitely close.
Keys won this game by only one point more than Sabalenka, 92-91.
They have the same number of winners, 29.
There was no break point in the third set until the last game.
“She played very aggressively. Everything seemed to go her way,” Sabalenka said of the early experience. “I just wanted to get the ball back.”
Sabalenka enters the 2025 tournament with an 11-0 record. She also had a 4-1 meeting with Keys, a 29-year-old American who was seeded No. 19 in the tournament, with Sabalenka in two. The U.S. Open semifinals years ago.
“Unbelievable fight, Elena. I’m glad to finally have you back,” Case said. “You always have a hard time playing. We always have the craziest games. Congratulations to you and your team on another amazing Grand Slam run.”
Sabalenka, who finished runner-up to Coco Gauff in New York in 2023 and won the event last September, was unable to walk away with what would have been her fourth major trophy Australia.
During Saturday’s presentation, she joked with her team.
“As always, it’s your fault, guys. I don’t want to see you next week. I really hate you!” Sabalenka said with a laugh. “Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for me, blah, blah, blah.”
