section_path: Career/2025: Australian Open champion
section_name: 2025: Australian Open champion
paragraph_text: 2025: Australian Open champion
  
  Keys won the Adelaide International, defeating top seed Jessica Pegula in the final in three sets. It was the ninth WTA Tour singles title of her career.
  
  At the Australian Open, she defeated tenth seed Danielle Collins, sixth seed Elena Rybakina, 28th seed Elina Svitolina and second seed Iga Świątek to reach the final of the tournament for the first time. As a result, she returned to the top 10 in the singles rankings. In the semifinals, Keys upset world No. 2 Iga Świątek in three sets, coming from a set down (the first semifinalist to do so since Venus Williams in 2017) and a match point down to reach the second major final of her career, eight years after being the US Open finalist. In the final, Keys defeated world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to win her first major title and return to her career-high ranking of world No. 7. Keys was the first player to win a major after defeating both the world No. 1 and world No. 2 at the Australian Open since Serena Williams in 2005 and at any major since Svetlana Kuznetsova at the 2009 French Open. Her two further wins over top-10 seeds (No. 6 Elena Rybakina and No. 10 Danielle Collins) made her the fourth woman (after Evonne Goolagong Cawley at Wimbledon, Mary Pierce at the Australian Open, and Li Na at Roland Garros) to defeat four top-10 seeded opponents en route to a major title. At 29, she became both the oldest first-time women's Australian Open champion and the player with the longest gap between their first two major finals in the Open Era.
  
  On her return to the tour following her Australian Open title, in Indian Wells, fifth seed Keys defeated Anastasia Potapova in straight sets, recording a bagel in the second set. She then defeated Elise Mertens and Donna Vekić in consecutive three-set matches to extend her winning streak to 15 matches in a row. She beat wildcard player Belinda Bencic in the quarterfinals, before losing to top seed Aryna Sabalenka.
  
  Keys won the Adelaide International, defeating top seed Jessica Pegula in the final in three sets. It was the ninth WTA Tour singles title of her career.
  
  At the Australian Open, she defeated tenth seed Danielle Collins, sixth seed Elena Rybakina, 28th seed Elina Svitolina and second seed Iga Świątek to reach the final of the tournament for the first time. As a result, she returned to the top 10 in the singles rankings. In the semifinals, Keys upset world No. 2 Iga Świątek in three sets, coming from a set down (the first semifinalist to do so since Venus Williams in 2017) and a match point down to reach the second major final of her career, eight years after being the US Open finalist. In the final, Keys defeated world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to win her first major title and return to her career-high ranking of world No. 7. Keys was the first player to win a major after defeating both the world No. 1 and world No. 2 at the Australian Open since Serena Williams in 2005 and at any major since Svetlana Kuznetsova at the 2009 French Open. Her two further wins over top-10 seeds (No. 6 Elena Rybakina and No. 10 Danielle Collins) made her the fourth woman (after Evonne Goolagong Cawley at Wimbledon, Mary Pierce at the Australian Open, and Li Na at Roland Garros) to defeat four top-10 seeded opponents en route to a major title. At 29, she became both the oldest first-time women's Australian Open champion and the player with the longest gap between their first two major finals in the Open Era.
  
  On her return to the tour following her Australian Open title, in Indian Wells, fifth seed Keys defeated Anastasia Potapova in straight sets, recording a bagel in the second set. She then defeated Elise Mertens and Donna Vekić in consecutive three-set matches to extend her winning streak to 15 matches in a row. She beat wildcard player Belinda Bencic in the quarterfinals, before losing to top seed Aryna Sabalenka.