
Illinois Native Stuns In Australian Open To Win Championship
Rock Island, Illinois Madison Keys is bringing home the championship! It's her first Grand Slam Title win and it came in stunning fashion in The Australian Open.
Madison Keys From Rock Island Illinois
Madison Keys was born in Rock Island, Illinois, and was inspired to start playing tennis after watching Venus Williams at Wimbledon on TV. Keys started playing tennis at the Quad-City Tennis Club in Moline. She moved to train at the Evert Tennis Academy.
She had her first breakthrough at a major in early 2015 when she reached the semifinals of the Australian Open as a teenager.
Madison Keys Wins The 2025 Australian Open
Madison took on World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the Australian Open final. It was a split-set match going 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 for Keys to win her first Grand Slam Title.
Sabalenka was going for a "three-peat" but Keys would not be denied in a back-and-forth final set where she came out on top.
It was an emotional match for both competitors.
Keys is one of the very few players to beat the World No. 1 and World No. 2 on her way to winning a grand slam title.
"I kept telling myself to be brave and go for it. Just lay it all out on the line," Keys told reporters. "I almost felt like I was trying to beat her to it. If I wasn't going to go for it, I knew she was going to. It pushed me to thread the needle a little bit more."
Congratulations to Quad Cities own Madison Keys on the victory!
LOOK: 50 images of winning moments from sports history
Gallery Credit: Peter Richman
LOOK: 25 fascinating vintage photos of the first Winter Olympic Games
Gallery Credit: Leesa Davis