Laura Robson was in tears watching Madison Keys win the Australian Open (Image: Eurosport)
Madison Keys finally on Saturday, beating Aryna Sabalenka to win the .
It was an emotional victory for the 29-year-old, who has been tipped for big things since she was a teenager.
Her victory left in tears, as the Eurosport pundit was caught crying courtside while watching Keys lift the trophy.
Robson and Keys have been close friends since they were children. They came up through the junior ranks at a similar time and both trained at the Evert Academy in Florida.
The retired British player jetted to America in the off-season to attend Keys’ wedding , who also became her tennis coach in 2023.
Ahead of the final, Robson even revealed that her parents would be sitting in Keys’ player box to cheer her on. “They’ve got their tickets,” she said on Eurosport.
“I think they’re here on-site somewhere already because they make sure that they’re on time, and my mum is wearing her lucky earrings, so all set her end.”
Madison Keys lifted her first Grand Slam trophy at the Australian Open (Image: Getty)
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So it’s no surprise Robson became emotional watching one of her closest friends achieve a lifelong dream in Melbourne. The 31-year-old watched the match courtside as part of her punditry duties.
But she couldn’t contain her emotions as Keys eventually came through a rollercoaster match. Eurosport showed a montage of footage, documenting Robson’s reactions as the No. 19 seed fought her way to a 6-3 2-6 7-5 victory.
Watching herself back, Robson said: “I was feeling unwell at this point. The poker face went out the window. I had Rennae Stubbs – who was working for ESPN – grabbing my leg so hard from the other side.
“This must have been the end but all of us felt ill, to be honest. Even if you’re not invested, it’s just one of those matches where you can’t help but feel a bit ill for the person involved.”
Robson wasn’t the only one pulling for Keys to finally get her fairytale ending. Jim Courier – who had been working for Australian host broadcaster Channel Nine – admitted that most pundits were cheering her on.
“I’ve got to tell you, there were a lot of us who were pulling for Madison. We love Aryna, she’s already a phenomenal champion, but the story of Madison overcoming everything and joining that club of becoming a Major champion, it was too irresistible for us not to pull for her,” he said.
“We were living and dying with her which is obviously not impartial, that’s not journalist, but hey! We’re retired tennis players, we’re not journalists, who are we kidding?”
Keys suffered a demolition job in her only previous Grand Slam final appearance at the 2017 US Open, losing 6-3 6-0. More than seven years later, she finally added her name to the list of Major champions and left plenty of her colleagues feeling emotional.