Women's tournament. Keys fairytale queen. Sabalenka defeated

Madison keys she came out of the limbo of "I want one Slam but I can't". His story was written yesterday, for the first time at thirty years old, in a final which already seemed to be in the safe pockets of the world number 1 Aryna Sabalenka. Instead on the fields of Melbourne the unthinkable happened, with the Belarusian defeated 6-3 2-6 7-5.

Of course, the American had already appeared in a major final seven years ago (then defeated by Sloane Stephens) and in the semifinals she had completed a feat of a comeback against Iga Swiatek. But Aryna seemed more determined than ever to win her third trophy in the land of the kangaroos.

For the Belarusian, broken rackets arrive, while the American puts an end to a past of almost unfinished business and of a growing tension chased away thanks to therapy. Since she was twelve years old, a major title had been predicted to her, caressed, grazed, but never arrived before now. First the charge and then the disappointed expectations that had transformed over the years into anxiety and fear, just like in that match in New York in 2017. Now erased by the beginning of a new tennis life.