Who: Aryna Sabalenka vs Madison Keys
What: Australian Open ladies’s singles closing
The place: Rod Laver Area, Melbourne, Australia
When: 7:30pm (08:30 GMT) on Saturday
Comply with Al Jazeera’s stay build-up adopted by our textual content and photograph stream of the match.
The irresistible drive of Aryna Sabalenka meets the unbreakable spirit of Madison Keys in an Australian Open ladies’s singles closing 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 taking part in a PlayStation” after meting out a cruel straight-sets bludgeoning to her good buddy.
The never-say-die American Keys, who will flip 30 subsequent month, saved eight break factors and a match level in a nerve-shredding closing set towards Iga Swiatek that went all the way in which to a 10-point tiebreak.
“Undoubtedly some big-hitting. I believe that’s going to occur,” the highly effective nineteenth seed Keys predicted of the ultimate. “Not loads of lengthy factors.”
What’s the head-to-head report between the ladies’s singles finalists?
Keys and Sabalenka have met 5 occasions beforehand, with the Belarusian successful 4 of them, most just lately on the Beijing arduous courts final yr. Keys’s sole win got here on grass in Berlin in 2021.
“She’s taking part in unbelievable tennis,” stated Sabalenka. “She’s a really aggressive participant, serving nicely, transferring nicely. She’s in nice form. It’s going to be an incredible battle. We had loads of nice battles prior 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 successful their respective warm-up occasions. Sabalenka, the modern-day queen of Melbourne Park, has received 20 straight matches on the well-known blue arduous courts.
If she makes it 21 it would 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 carried out it – Margaret Court docket, Evonne Goolagong, Steffi Graf and Monica Seles.
Three in a row is a uncommon achievement at any Slam and has solely been carried out this century on three events.
At Roland Garros, Justine Henin accomplished the treble in 2007 and Iga Swiatek emulated it final yr. 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 will likely be in her fifth Slam closing, Keys in solely her second, having misplaced the 2017 US Open closing 6-3, 6-0 to Sloane Stephens. “I’ve clearly considered that match endlessly for the previous eight years,” stated 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 truly play. It’s also possible to play tennis by means of that, I believe is one thing that I’ve been working actually arduous on.
“That’s one of many greatest classes that I can take from that US Open closing.”
What’s the prize cash?
The whole 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 girls’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 look at, comply with and stream the Australian Open tennis Grand Slam?
Al Jazeera will present stay textual content and photograph protection of the lads’s and girls’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 Okay-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.