No. 19 Madison Keys to face No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in Australian Open final, No. 7 Novak Djokovic retires in semis to end bid for 25th Grand Slam title

The GIST: Two weeks, a million fuzzy balls, and endless viral sandwiches later, the Australian Open finals are here, with the women’s showdown scheduled for the wee hours of tomorrow morning, and the men following suit on Sunday. Crikey — here’s who’s serving for a trophy.

No. 2 Alexander Zverev advances after No. 7 Novak Djokovic retires: The controversial German will compete for his first Grand Slam title on Sunday after a hobbled Joker shockingly called it quits when Zverev won the opening set in a 7–6 tiebreaker. That leaves Djokovic still tied with Margaret Court for most major wins ever, stuck at 24 since 2023.

• Zverev’s fellow Gen Z finals opponent? None other than the defending Australian Open champ, No. 1 Jannik Sinner, who outlasted American No. 21 Ben Shelton overnight. Zverev has topped Sinner four times before, but the young Italian owned the most recent match in August 2024. Crikey.

No. 19 Madison Keys reaches first Australian Open final: Major key(s) alert — the American shocked No. 2 Iga Świątek in yesterday’s semi, forging a dramatic comeback after losing the first set to reach her second Grand Slam final. While Keys has made deep runs at majors before, she’s playing especially strong tennis as of late, attributed to a recent racket switch. Whatever works.

• But in order to hoist the trophy tomorrow, Keys will need to beat two-time reigning Australian Open champion No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who’s only dropped one set the entire tourney and already pushed past her bestie, No. 11 Paula Badosa, in the semis.

• Sabalenka has won four of five career matches against Keys and has never lost to the American at a major, but with Keys in upset mode, anything’s possible.