Madison Keys lifted her maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open (Image: Getty)
Madison Keys had an unusual wake-up call during her run to the title.
The 29-year-old’s friends and colleagues have been overjoyed to see Keys finally
But one former player went a step too far in trying to congratulate the American, accidentally FaceTiming her at 2am while she was trying to rest before the final.
Keys went on an incredible run to win her maiden Grand Slam title, beating 2022 finalist , former world No. 3 Elina Svitolina, and Major champions , and .
One of her most impressive victories came in the semi-final when she took out No. 2 seed Swiatek, saving a match point to win 5-7 6-1 7-6(8) in a dramatic final set tiebreak.
The match was played at an awkward time for those in America who wanted to see if Keys could make it to her second Major final. That was the case for retired star Querrey, who wanted to congratulate the No. 19 seed after realising she’d won.
The former world No. 11 hosts a podcast with some of his fellow former professionals and he told the awkward story of how he accidentally FaceTime called Keys when he just wanted to message her.
“When I woke up, I was watching highlights, saw that Keys won. I go in my phone to text Madison, I accidentally hit the FaceTime button,” he said, imitating the ringing sound.
Retired star Sam Querrey accidentally FaceTime called Madison Keys (Image: Getty)
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“I panic, I hang up. My wife was like, ‘Who are you FaceTiming?’ [I said] ‘I accidentally just FaceTimed Keys’. [She said] ‘You idiot’.”
But the newly-crowned champion was a great sport, calling Querrey straight back. He continued: “Madison then FaceTimes me back. I get the thing back.
“She FaceTimes me back. I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s 2.15am [in Australia]’. I answer, I’m like, ‘Hi Madison, I’m so sorry, I meant to text you, I’m an idiot. I hope I didn’t wake you up.’
“So then I hang up because I’m panicking still, and then I text her, I’m like, ‘I’m so stupid, I just went total old man move and accidentally FaceTimed you’. She’s like, ‘No problem’.”
While it was morning for Querrey, it was the middle of the night for Keys, who was trying to recover after getting a huge win over the world No. 2. And the American was left fearing that he could affect her preparations for the championship match.
“But now I’m worried that it was 2.15am, she was trying to sleep and did she maybe not get a good night of sleep?” he said.
“If she doesn’t win the tournament now, I’m going to feel like I’m responsible for her not getting that proper night of sleep. What an idiot move from me but kudos to Madison Keys. She picked up my FaceTime, who would’ve thought? I’m a nobody. You’re in a final of a Slam.”
Luckily for Querrey, his 2am interruption didn’t derail Keys’ recovery, and she defeated two-time defending champion and world No. 1 Sabalenka in a rollercoaster final on Saturday, winning 6-3 2-6 7-5 to capture her first Major trophy.
The No. 19 seed also revealed the unusual reason she answered Querrey’s call, admitting she thought she was in for another prize.
“I was very confused but felt like it was so random maybe he was going to tell me I won a prize or something,” Keys commented.