Madison Keys entered the Adelaide International as the defending champion with an unblemished 11-0 record. However, Victoria Mboko turned Keys' road to defending the Happy Slam into a nightmare.

Victoria Mboko stunned the tennis world by defeating Madison Keys 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to storm into the semifinals of the WTA 500 event.

Mboko stole the first set, but couldn't keep up with Keys' serves. In total, the defending Australian Open champion had eight aces and won the second set. The turning point came in the third set, as Mboko converted 75% of her first-serves and found the lone break-point to win.

It was an impressive showing, considering the 19-year-old Canadian No. 8 seed was playing her first-ever match against the 30-year-old American. It was the crowning moment, especially since she became the WTA Newcomer of the Year last season, and went from WTA No. 33 to No. 18.

While Keys didn't speak after the match, she greeted Mboko with flowers before they played. "She's a very, very good player, even before her Montreal title, she was on a 20-something win streak."

But Madison Keys Isn't Taking Too Much Pressure About a Title Defense

Keys talked about her win and a potential title defense at the WTA Finals.

"A year later it feels a little bit more real. But it will still be obviously the highlight of my career. And it's an amazing experience here, and the fact that it was basically a perfect three weeks. I'm not sure I could ever replicate that, and I'm certainly not going to be trying to replicate that."

After her loss in Adelaide, all eyes are certainly going to be on her. She will be facing Oleksandra Oliynykova, WTA No. 90, on Sunday to open her Australian Open title defense.

Written by

Ishika Ghosh

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar