Aryna Sabalenka made a strong claim about Madison Keys following their Australian Open final.
The World number one fell agonisingly short of lifting the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup for the third successive year.
She went toe-to-toe with Madison Keys, who produced some of the best tennis of her career to dethrone Sabalenka in Melbourne.
Sabalenka was distraught after the crushing defeat, and proceeded to smash her racket and storm off court before returning to deliver a unique speech at the trophy presentation.
What did Aryna Sabalenka say about Madison Keys’ ball striking after the Australian Open final?
Aryna Sabalenka met her match in the balls striking department when she took on Keys in the Australian Open final.
In the final game of the match, the American struck her forehand at the ferocious speed of 137 kph, while Keys hit her backhand at 131 kph.
These increased speeds helped her win a crucial game to seal the championship, and there was nothing Sabalenka could do about it.
The Belarusian has faced some powerful players including Serena Williams, arguably the most hardest hitter of them all.
But following Keys’ epic victory in the Australian Open, Sabalenka thinks she may have the strongest groundstrokes of all the players she has faced and made a bold ranking prediction.
In her post match press conference, Sabalenka told reporters: “Yes. Today was very fast, very deep, very aggressive. Yeah, that was a great level from her.
“As I said, if she can continue playing the way she was playing today, yeah, she can be one of the — she can be in the top 5.”
Aryna Sabalenka reacts to Australian Open final defeat to Madison Keys
After smashing her racket and leaving the court immediately after losing the Australian Open final, Sabalenka returned for the post match presentation.
She received the runner-up shield and Sabalenka then made fun of her team before making a vow to Keys, who won her first Grand Slam title.
“Should I say anything to my team?” she said. “As always that is your fault, guys, I don’t want to see you for the next week, I really hate you.
“No, thank you so much for everything you do for me and blah, blah blah. I think we did our best but Madison [Keys] was playing incredible, I really couldn’t do anything in this match.
“Next time I play against Madison, I will bring better tennis. Of course, sending love to my team – even though we lost.”
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