Madison Keys stuns Aryna Sabalenka in Australian Open final as World No 1 smashes racket in defeat – live

Novak Djokovic has declared Alexander Zverev as his favourite for the Australian Open despite the German facing defending champion Jannik Sinner in the final.

Zverev progressed to his first Australian Open final after Djokovic retired injured following their semi-final on Friday, with the 10-time champion struggling with a torn muscle in his upper left leg.

Zverev is bidding to win his first grand slam title after defeats to Dominic Thiem in the 2020 US Open final and Carlos Alcaraz in the 2024 French Open final and Djokovic said the 27-year-old “deserves” his breakthrough major win.

Zverev told the Australian Open crowd to be more “respectful” after Djokovic was booed by some sections of the crowd following his abrupt retirement from the semi-final.

Djokovic said he “liked his chances” of beating Zverev if he was fully fit but the 37-year-old was full of praise for the second seed after he advanced to the final.

“I wish Sascha all the best,” Djokovic said. “He deserves his first slam. I’ll be cheering for him. Hopefully he can get it.”

Alexander Zverev spoke up for Novak Djokovic after his decision to retire from his semi-final after the first set was booed by sections of the Rod Laver Arena crowd.

“The very first thing I want to say is please don’t boo a player when he goes out injured,” said Zverev, who was forced to retire from a French Open semi-final against Rafael Nadal after tearing ankle ligaments three years ago.

“I know that everybody paid for tickets and wants to see a five-set match but you have got to understand Novak Djokovic is somebody that has given this sport for the past 20 years absolutely everything in his life.

“He has won his tournament with an abdominal tear, won this tournament with a hamstring tear, if he feels he cannot continue a tennis match, he cannot continue a tennis match. So please guys, be respectful. Show some love for Novak as well.”

Jannik Sinner was asked if he ever feels “unbeatable” after reaching a second Australian Open final and extending his winning run at the hard-court grand slams to 20 matches.

“No,” he replied. “I know that I put a lot of work in. I know I just try to stay calm, never taking things as granted. Just well-prepared, to be honest.

“I had a tough off-season. We tried to put a lot of work in there. Every day it’s a routine to get better. That’s it.

“[World No 1] is obviously it’s a great position to be in. Back of my head I also know that I’m 23 years old, and I am not perfect, no?

“I know that I have things still to improve. I have certain areas where I can get better. That’s why we work for, no?

“Every day is a big challenge. Every day you have a different opponent. You try to understand what’s happening.

“Sometimes you have some issues and then trying to understand that whatever works best for that day and trying to go for it, no? Everyone makes mistakes, no? Nobody’s perfect.”

Despite his World No 1 ranking, Jannik Sinner trails the head-to-head to Alexander Zverev with the German winning four of their six previous meetings.

While Sinner was the victor the last time they played – in three tight sets in the Cincinnati semi-finals last year – Zverev has won the previous four, including in the last-16 of the US Open in 2023.

That five-set match was the last time Sinner lost a grand slam match on a hard court, with the Italian winning the Australian Open and US Open titles in 2024.

The Australian Open men’s final will begin just after 8:30am GMT (UK time) on Sunday 26 January.

In the UK, the Australian Open will be broadcast live on Eurosport. Subscribers can also stream the action online on the Eurosport website or with the discovery+ app.

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Jannik Sinner faces Alexander Zverev in the Australian Open final as the World No 1 bids for back-to-back men’s singles titles in Melbourne.

Sinner won his first grand slam at the Australian Open 12 months ago when he came from two sets down to defeat Daniil Medvedev and the Italian has since underlined his status as the best player in the world.

Zverev progressed to a first Australian Open final after an injured Novak Djokovic dramatically retired from their semi-final on Friday, but the German has backed up his position of World No 2 and is a strong contender to win his first grand slam.

The big-serving 27-year-old has the advantage of playing just 82 minutes against Djokovic, while Sinner needed much longer to defeat Ben Shelton and did not finish his semi-final until after midnight local time.

Zverev, though, has his demons in grand slam finals, losing the US Open final from two sets up to Dominic Thiem in 2020 and the French Open final from two sets to one up against Carlos Alcaraz last June.

Sinner, 23, has won 13 matches in a row at Melbourne Park and now has the chance to add his third grand slam title, after also winning the US Open last September

Madison Keys on her path to finally winning a grand slam, at the age of 29.

“I think everything kind of happens for a reason. I think for me specifically, I kind of had to go through some tough things. I think it just kind of forced me to look at myself in the mirror a little bit and try to work on, like, kind of just internal pressure that I was putting on myself.

“I felt like from a pretty young age, I felt like if I never won a Grand Slam, then I wouldn’t have lived up to what people thought I should have been. That was a pretty heavy burden to kind of carry around. So I finally got to the point where I was proud of myself and proud of my career, with or without a Grand Slam.”

Some more stats on the incredible Madison Keys, from Opta Ace:

• Keys is the fourth player to win a women’s singles grand slam by defeating four top-10 seeded opponents, after Evonne Goolagong (Wimbledon 1980), Mary Pierce (AO 1995) and Li Na (RG 2011)
• Keys is the oldest player to defeat the World No. 1 and No. 2 in semi-finals and final at a grand slam event since the start of the WTA rankings, and fifth of all time.

At 29, Madison Keys is just the fourth woman to win her first grand slam title at this stage of her career. Only Flavia Pennetta, Ann Jones and Francesca Schiavone had previously won their first grand slam after turning 29.

According to Opta, only Pennetta (49), Goran Ivanisevic (48) and Marion Bartoli (47) have appeared in more main draws to win their first Singles Grand Slam title than Keys (46).

Sabalenka said she had to let the frustration out in order to give a “respectful” runners-up speech, after being so close to winning a third Australian Open title in a row.

“There definitely was a bit of frustration because I was so close to achieving something crazy,” Sabalenka explained.

“I just needed to throw those negative emotions at the end just so I could give a speech, not stand there being disrespectful.

“I was just trying to let it go and be a good person, be respectful,” Sabalenka laughed. “It’s okay. I mean, I’m the one who knows that after tough losses, there is good wins.

“I needed that time for myself to kind of like switch off and forget and leave it in the best and be respectful, not be – I don’t know.

“Just wanted to be respectful. I just needed to throw those stuff out and needed some time with myself.”