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After a ruthless 2-hour and 2-minute battle on the court, which began with Keys securing a break of Sabalenka's serve in the opening game, she notched 29 winners with an inside-out forehand to secure the championship point and her first major 6-3, 2-6, 7-5.

Keys was a teen tennis prodigy and turned professional just three days after turning 14, but she never quite reached the pinnacle of success she seemed destined for so early on in her career. The soon-to-be 30-year-old told \"GMA\" that putting in the mental strength work and reframing her mindset has helped elevate her game.

\"It kind of just felt like the opportunity slipped through my fingers a little bit,\" Keys said. \"I was so close just a few years ago and had just a heartbreaker of a match. It was kind of in that moment where you have a lot of doubt, and you think, 'Am I ever going to be able to get back to a Grand Slam final?' I really kind of just started to put my head down and do a lot of work on the court and off the court, and here we are now.\"

Australian Open champion Madison Keys built confidence through therapy

\"PHOTO:
ABC
PHOTO: Madison Keys appears on Good Morning America, Jan. 28, 2025.
>

Keys said that years of hearing people tell her \"you're gonna win a Grand Slam\" felt great and served as \"a confidence builder,\" but that \"the longer time went where I hadn't won one, I kept thinking, if I don't win one, am I a failure?'\"

\"I don't even think I consciously knew I was feeling it, but it felt like year after year, that internal pressure was really building,\" she said. \"It finally took going to therapy and getting really honest. I started saying things that I didn't even know had become kind of core beliefs of mine. Being able to break those down and get to the point where I was really proud of my career and everything that I've done without winning a Grand Slam, I think I finally gave myself the freedom to go out and play at the level that I knew that I had.\"

\"I finally got to the point where I thought, 'If it happens, amazing, if it doesn't happen, it's OK, I'll still be proud of myself,'\" she said of her breakthrough.

What's next for Madison Keys after Australian Open, 1st major win

\"PHOTO:
Quinn Rooney/Getty Images
PHOTO: Madison Keys of the United States lifts the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup after the Women's Singles Trophy Presentation following the Women's Singles Final at the 2025 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Jan. 25, 2025 in Melbourne.
>

The newlywed Keys, whose husband and coach is former American tennis player Bjorn Fratangelo, said after some much needed sleep, they'll be \"back to work on Monday\" to prepare for \"lots of tournaments\" including the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells and the Miami Open back to back in March.

\"It's just been really nice,\" she said of her marriage and professional partnership with Fratangelo, who first started helping her nearly two years ago. \"He played when we first started dating, so to be able to spend time together and see each other has been amazing. But to be able to now achieve this goal, and we were able to do it together, it's just perfect.\"

The next major on Keys' radar will be the French Open at Roland-Garros in Paris, where she'll see a familiar face, with two-time defending champion Świątek on the clay.

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