WHO: Aryna Sabalenka vs Madison Keys
What: Australian Open Women’s Singles Final
Where: Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, Australia
when: Saturday 7:30pm (08:30GMT)
Follow Al Jazeera’s live coverage, then watch our text and photo stream from the match.

The irresistible Aryna Sabalenka meets the indestructible Madison Keys in the Australian Open women’s singles final on Saturday in what promises to be a A thunderous battle.

Defending champion Sabalenka was praised by defeated semi-finalist Paola Badosa as being “like she was playing on a PlayStation” after she hammered her best friend in a ruthless straight-sets set.

The never-say-die American Keys, who will celebrate their 30th birthday next month, saved 8 break points and 1 match point in the game. A heartbreaking final against Iga Swiatek Until 10 points in the tie-break.

“Definitely some big favorites. I think it’s going to happen,” Keys, the powerful 19th seed, predicted of the final. “Not much longer.”

What is the head-to-head record between women’s singles finalists?

Keys and Sabalenka have met five times before, with the Belarusian winning four of them, most recently on hard courts in Beijing last year. Keyes’ only victory came at the 2021 Berlin Turf.

“She plays incredible tennis,” Sabalenka said. “She’s a very aggressive player, serves well, moves well. She has great size. It’s going to be a great fight. We’ve had a lot of great fights in the past.”

What does three consecutive Australian Open titles mean to Sabalenka?

Sabalenka will remain world number one after Swiatek’s defeat, while Keys is expected to return to the top ten for the first time since 2019 in the new rankings.

After winning their respective warm-up matches, the two players were in hot form and achieved 11 consecutive victories. Sabalenka is the modern queen of Melbourne Park, having won 20 straight games on the famous blue hard courts.

If she lives to be 21, she will complete a Triple Crown unseen this century. The last person to achieve three consecutive titles in Melbourne was Martina Hingis in 1999, and only four other women have achieved the feat: Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong, Steffi Graf and Monica Seles.

A three-game winning streak is a rare achievement at any major, having been accomplished only three times this century.

At Roland Garros, Justine Henin completed the Triple Crown in 2007 and Iga Swiatek followed last year. Serena Williams has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles but only scored a hat trick once, at the U.S. Open from 2012-14.

How many Grand Slam finals has Keys reached?

Sabalenka will be reaching her fifth Grand Slam final, while Keys is making his second, having lost 6-3, 6-0 in the 2017 U.S. Open final. Sloane Stephens. “I’ve obviously been thinking about that game endlessly for the past eight years,” Case said. He was in tears after defeating Swiatek in a see-saw match that lasted 2 hours and 35 minutes.

“I was so nervous that I never really gave myself a chance to actually play. You can also play tennis through it and I think that’s something I’ve been working on.

“That’s one of the most important lessons I learned from the U.S. Open final.”

What’s the prize?

Total bonuses are $59.8 million, a 12% increase from 2024.

The Australian Open will award a bonus of US$2.16 million to the singles champion, and the men’s and women’s doubles champion team will receive a bonus of US$502,000.

The breakdown of singles categories (men’s and women’s) is as follows:

champion: $2.16 million
runner up: $1.17 million
Semifinalists: $680,000
Quarterfinalists: $412,242
Top 16: $260,363
Round 3: $179,759 USD
Second round: $123,974 USD
First round: $81,822

Where to watch, follow and live stream the Australian Open Grand Slam event?

Al Jazeera will provide live text and photo coverage of the men’s and women’s singles finals.

The official broadcasters of the Australian Open are:

Africa: beIN Sports and Super Sports.
Europe: Eurosport, SRG SSR.
Asia Pacific and Oceania: ESPN, Tennis Channel, beIN Sports, CCTV, iQIYI, GDTV, WOWOW, Nine, Stan Sport, Digicel, CJ ENM, TDM, ESPN International, SKY, Sportcast and K-Plus.
India and subcontinent: Sony Sports Network.
Latin America and the Caribbean: ESPN International.
middle East: BeIN Sports.
North America: ESPN, TSN, RDS and Tennis Channel.
Central Asia: Sony Sports Network and Eurosport.