Professional tennis players are generally well-accustomed to traveling with an excess amount of luggage, but boarding a flight with a grand slam trophy was a new experience for Madison Keys.

With women’s tennis on the verge of an epic showdown between its top two players with the Australian Open title on the line, Keys, the 29-year-old American, crashed the party. She stormed back against Iga Swiatek to win their semifinal 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (10-8).

MELBOURNE, Australia — When Madison Keys stepped into Rod Laver Arena at 7:37 p.m. on Saturday night ahead of the Australian Open final, she strode right past the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup, the trophy that goes to the women’s champion and was placed on a pedestal near the entrance to the court.

American Madison Keys upset two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 during the Australian Open final Saturday night.

Be brave. Go for it. Those were the mantras Madison Keys turned to as she confronted the most significant points of her tennis career, trapped in the cauldron of a third set that was tied at 5-all, 30-all in the Australian Open final against two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday.

The Madison Keys who will play two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka for the title at the Australian Open on Saturday night is not the same Madison Keys who was the runner-up at the U.S.

Australian Open women's champion Madison Keys returned to her career-best ranking on Monday and joins three other American women in the WTA top 10, while men's champion Jannik Sinner maintained his significant lead atop the ATP list.

Serbia's Davis Cup captain Viktor Troicki has sensationally declared Tony Jones should be "banned for life" for his treatment of Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open. And women's champion Madison Keys has been barred from playing her planned next tournament because her ranking is now too high.

Aryna Sabalenka threw her racket on the sideline. She sat on her bench with a towel over her head. She then even briefly walked off the court before the trophy ceremony when her bid for a third consecutive Australian Open championship ended with a 6-3,

The American has put injuries behind her to win her first major at the age of 29. Madison Keys ran to embrace the members of her team after winning the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup. Among them was Bjorn Fratangelo,

Aryna Sabalenka vs Madison Keys Live Telecast Australia Open Women's Singles Final: Both players are in rampant form and on 11-match win streaks after winning their respective warm-up events.