Who: Aryna Sabalenka vs Madison Keys
What: Australian Open ladies’s singles last
The place: Rod Laver Enviornment, Melbourne, Australia
When: 7:30pm (08:30 GMT) on Saturday
Comply with Al Jazeera’s reside build-up adopted by our textual content and picture stream of the match.
The irresistible drive of Aryna Sabalenka meets the unbreakable spirit of Madison Keys in an Australian Open ladies’s singles last on Saturday that guarantees to be a thunderous slugfest.
Defending champion Sabalenka was hailed by crushed semifinalist Paula Badosa as being so good it was “like she’s enjoying a PlayStation” after dispensing a cruel straight-sets bludgeoning to her good pal.
The never-say-die American Keys, who will flip 30 subsequent month, saved eight break factors and a match level in a nerve-shredding final set against Iga Swiatek that went all the way in which to a 10-point tiebreak.
“Positively some big-hitting. I believe that’s going to occur,” the highly effective nineteenth seed Keys predicted of the ultimate. “Not quite a lot of lengthy factors.”
What’s the head-to-head document between the ladies’s singles finalists?
Keys and Sabalenka have met 5 instances beforehand, with the Belarusian profitable 4 of them, most just lately on the Beijing exhausting courts final 12 months. Keys’s sole win got here on grass in Berlin in 2021.
“She’s enjoying unbelievable tennis,” mentioned Sabalenka. “She’s a really aggressive participant, serving properly, shifting properly. She’s in nice form. It’s going to be an awesome battle. We had quite a lot of nice battles up to now.”
What would an Australian Open threepeat imply for Sabalenka?
Sabalenka will stay world primary after Swiatek’s defeat whereas Keys is assured to be again within the prime 10 for the primary time since 2019 within the new rankings.
Each gamers are in rampant type and on 11-match win streaks after profitable their respective warm-up occasions. Sabalenka, the modern-day queen of Melbourne Park, has received 20 straight matches on the well-known blue exhausting courts.
If she makes it 21 it can see her full a treble not witnessed this century. The final particular person to attain the three-peat in Melbourne was Martina Hingis in 1999 and solely 4 different ladies have achieved it – Margaret Courtroom, Evonne Goolagong, Steffi Graf and Monica Seles.
Three in a row is a uncommon achievement at any Slam and has solely been achieved this century on three events.
At Roland Garros, Justine Henin accomplished the treble in 2007 and Iga Swiatek emulated it final 12 months. Serena Williams received 23 Grand Slam singles titles however solely managed a hat-trick as soon as, on the US Open from 2012-14.
What number of Grand Slam finals has Keys reached?
Sabalenka might be in her fifth Slam last, Keys in solely her second, having misplaced the 2017 US Open last 6-3, 6-0 to Sloane Stephens. “I’ve clearly considered that match endlessly for the previous eight years,” mentioned Keys, who broke down in tears after beating Swiatek in a seesawing contest that lasted 2hr 35min.
“I used to be so consumed with being nervous and the second that I by no means actually gave myself an opportunity to really play. You may as well play tennis by that, I believe is one thing that I’ve been working actually exhausting on.
“That’s one of many largest classes that I can take from that US Open last.”
What’s the prize cash?
The entire prize cash is $59.8m, a 12 p.c enhance from 2024.
The Australian Open will hand out a $2.16m reward for singles champions and males’s and ladies’s doubles champion groups will obtain $502,000.
The breakdown within the singles class (women and men) is:
Champions: $2.16m
Runners-up: $1.17m
Semifinalists: $0.68m
Quarterfinalists: $412,242
Spherical of 16: $260,363
Third spherical: $179,759
Second spherical: $123,974
First spherical: $81,822
The place to observe, observe and stream the Australian Open tennis Grand Slam?
Al Jazeera will present reside textual content and picture protection of the lads’s and ladies’s singles finals.
The official broadcasters of the Australian Open are:
Africa: beIN Sports activities and SuperSport.
Europe: Eurosport, SRG SSR.
Asia Pacific & Oceania: ESPN, Tennis Channel, beIN Sports activities, CCTV, iQIYI, GDTV, WOWOW, 9, Stan Sport, Digicel, CJ ENM, TDM, ESPN Worldwide, SKY, Sportcast and Ok-Plus.
India & subcontinent: Sony Sports activities Community.
Latin America & Caribbean: ESPN Worldwide.
Center East: beIN Sports activities.
North America: ESPN, TSN, RDS and Tennis Channel.
Central Asia: Sony Sports activities Community and Eurosport.