Madison Keys jumps to career-high ranking despite not playing since Australian Open, prompting praise for Chris Evert
WTA
Tennis star Madison Keys shocked the world by winning the 2025 Australian Open title, and the American's rise up the WTA rankings continues despite not having played a match since her victory at Melbourne.
The Illinois native defeated two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in a thrilling final, staving off a Sabalenka comeback to prevail in three sets. This was her second appearance in a Grand Slam final, having lost at the 2017 US Open to compatriot Sloane Stephens.
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Keys achieves new career-high ranking despite lack of competitive play
Following her victory at the Happy Slam, Keys returned to her previous career-high ranking of World No.7. However, the 30-year old took some time off after the Happy Slam, opting to skip both WTA 1000 events in Doha and Dubai.
Nonetheless, this did not prevent Keys from climbing even further up the rankings following the WTA 1000 event in Dubai. Due to several upsets in the tournament, Keys found herself climbing even higher still, as she ascended to a new career-high ranking of World No.5.
Former World No.1 Chris Evert was one of many to congratulate the American, taking to social media to express her joy at her compatriot's new achievement.
"Congratulations Maddy, well deserved, keep going!” wrote Evert on Twitter.
Keys now joins compatriots Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula in the top five, making it the first time in over 20 years that three American women have been ranked inside the top 5 on the WTA rankings table.
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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