Australian Open women’s singles final preview: How to watch, follow, stream

Who: Aryna Sabalenka vs Madison Keys

What: Australian Open women’s singles final
Where: Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, Australia
When: 7:30pm (08:30 GMT) on Saturday
Follow Al Jazeera’s live build-up followed by our text and photo stream of the match.

In the Australian Open women’s singles final scheduled for Saturday, the irresistible Aryna Sabalenka and Madison Keys will clash in an unbreakable slugfest.

After dishing out a merciless straight-sets bludgeoning to her good friend, beaten semifinalist Paula Badosa praised defending champion Sabalenka as being “like she’s playing a PlayStation.”

The never-say-die American Keys, who will turn 30 next month, saved eight break points and a match point in a nerve-shredding final set against Iga Swiatek that went all the way to a 10-point tiebreak.

“Definitely some big-hitting. The powerful 19th seed Keys anticipated that would happen in the final. “Not a lot of long points”.

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

Keys and Sabalenka have previously met five times, with the Belarusian winning four of them, most recently on Beijing’s hard courts last year. Keys’s sole win came on grass in Berlin in 2021.

“She’s playing incredible tennis”, said Sabalenka. “She’s a very aggressive player, serving well, moving well. She’s in great shape. It’s going to be a great battle. In the past, we have engaged in many important battles.

What would Sabalenka’s three-peat at the Australian Open mean?

After Swiatek’s defeat, Sabalenka will continue to be the world’s number one, while Keys will undoubtedly return to the top 10 in the new rankings for the first time since 2019.

Both players have won 11 straight games in their respective warm-up matches, and both are in top form. Sabalenka, the modern-day queen of Melbourne Park, has won 20 straight matches on the famous blue hard courts.

If she achieves the age of 21, she will achieve a treble previously unheard of. Only four other women have won the three-peat in Melbourne, including Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong, Steffi Graf, and Monica Seles, who was the last woman to do it in 1999.

Three consecutive wins at a Slam is a rare feat, which has only been attempted three times in this century.

Justine Henin won the treble at Roland Garros in 2007, and Iga Swiatek did it last year. Serena Williams won 23 Grand Slam singles titles between 2012 and 2014, but her only hat-trick came at the US Open.

Keys has won how many Grand Slam championships?

Sabalenka will be in her fifth Slam final, Keys in only her second, having lost the 2017 US Open final 6-3, 6-0 to Sloane Stephens. After defeating Swiatek in a seesawing contest that lasted 2 hours 35 minutes, Keys, who broke down in tears, said, “I’ve obviously thought about that match endlessly for the past eight years.

“I never really gave myself a chance to play because I was so occupied with being anxious and the moment.” You can play tennis through that, which is something I’ve been working really hard on.

That is one of the most important lessons I can learn from the US Open final.

What’s the prize money?

The total prize money is $59.8m, a 12 percent increase from 2024.

The Australian Open will award a $ 2.16 million reward to champion singles teams, along with $ 510, 000 to men’s and women’s doubles champion teams.

The breakdown in the singles category (men and women) is:

Champions: $2.16m
Runners-up: $1.17m
Semifinalists: $0.68m
Quarterfinalists: $412,242
Round of 16: $260,363
Third round: $179,759
Second round: $123,974
First round: $81,822

The Australian Open tennis grand prix is available where?

The men’s and women’s singles finals will be broadcast live on Al Jazeera with live text and photo feeds.

The Australian Open’s official broadcasters are:

Source: Aljazeera