Indian Wells, California – When Madison Keys was 10, her whole family moved from a small town in Illinois to Florida, allowing them to train at Chris Evert’s Tennis Academy. Expectations were high, and she dreamed of winning the Grand Slam title.
It didn’t take long for the key to reach the biggest stage of sports. She made her main main draw debut at the US Open as a 16-year-old, winning even her first match.
But despite the hype and her own ambitions, it requires the appearance of 46 main draw slams (final appearance at the 2017 US Open) filled with deep runs and early exits, for as long as she remembers it has achieved her singular focus. In January, two incredible weeks after she defeated two-time defending champion and world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the final, Keys became Australia’s Open Champion.
The uplifted key went home on three different flights. After a whirlwind of media appearances in New York, Keys went home with her husband and coach Bjorn Fratanguero, and was soon plagued by questions.
She spent the next three days on the couch.
“It was really emotionally drained,” Keys, 30, told ESPN this week before BNP Paribas opened. “I mean, you were just experiencing the highest heights, you went home and it was a bit of a purpose. I was basically coma, which was an amazing result.
Currently ranked fifth-place career-high, Key is not the first to experience this post-slam disappointment. In fact, she said she had been warned.
“In fact, how many former players have reached out to me, “The existential crisis is totally normal,” Keys said.
Several players told her that her first practice practice would be tough – and in her words it was “tragedy.” But more importantly, they told her she had to reconsider everything she probably knew. What is her new goal, as she has achieved one thing that fueled her? What motivates her?
Dominictiem, former world No. 3, who won his only major title at the US Open in 2020, spoke to him about the sacrifice of achieving a feat.
“I was in a state of happiness (in the US Open),” Thiem said in a 2021 interview with the Austrian newspaper, DER Standard. “The results were still good, so I reached the final in the ATP Finals in London, but I fell into the hole while preparing for this season… I have been chasing a big goal for 15 years without looking left or right.
Three-time major champion Ashley Bertie recently repeated Tiem’s feelings and promoted her book, “My Dream Time.”
“I won Wimbledon was the only thing I wanted to have an entire career,” Bertie said in a recent interview with News Corporation.
She added in her book about her feelings at the time: “I don’t know what I’m doing anymore. I think I’m done. I have nothing left and there are no sparks.”
Shot of the Year candidate 🤯
Tommy Paul You’ve just done 💪#dallalopen pic.twitter.com/39ri4uk9ta
– Tennis TV (@tennistv) February 4, 2025
Bertie never found it again, and despite winning the Australian Open in 2022, she retired at the world No. 1 and 25 years old.
The key was aggressive when he decided not to go down a similar pass. She started working with a psychologist about a year ago and saw her every week since returning from Australia. Keys shares with her all the feelings she had felt since her victory and reveals that she felt that it was completely different from what she had expected. The Keys, who married in November, compared it to an advanced version of the day after their wedding. “There was all this plan, all this build-up, and the next morning I woke up and said, “Wait, are you finished?”
It was very helpful to speak through it all, she said, and she is proud of herself for being vulnerable and “cruelly honest.” She was able to find a perspective when she always thought it was the best time of her life.
And instead of rushing back to the competition, Keys took a little rest on himself. Most of her peers competed in the Middle East at 1000-level events in Doha and Dubai, while Keys trained at USTA’s national campus at her Orlando area home. Meanwhile, she was immersed in victory with a new generation of American talent from the younger generations in practice. And it provided her with an unexpected ego boost.
“They used to be always the visor girl and they said, ‘Now I’m wearing my hat because of you,'” Keyes said. “I am” General Z likes me! ”
The preference of her fellow players has always been something Keys proud of – while some players actively avoid pursuing friendships to stay competitive, Keys enjoys being a friendly face and listening ear in the locker room.
Her reception to Australia’s open victory made the respect of her peers abundantly clear. Everyone on tour seemed to be on tour, from current stars like Coco Goff, Jessica Pegra and Sloane Stephens to legends like Serena Williams.
Appropriately 🥲 Going to Maddie!!!
-CocoGauff (@cocogue) January 25th, 2025
We love to see it!!!! Worth all ways and as much as possible 🫶🏼♥§https://t.co/0qokfoja79
– Jesse Pegula (@jpegura) January 25th, 2025
“I was really happy for her,” Taylor Fritz, the current top-ranked American in World No. 4, told ESPN. Fritz has known the key since he was a teenager. “It’s been a while since I was really happy for someone who’s done something… She made the final (our us) years ago, and it’s amazing to see it happen to her now. I mean, she really deserves it.”
For keys, that type of response means everything.
“I’ve always wanted to be a good person to lead,” Keys said. “I always rebelled against the idea that nice people can’t succeed. I always hated that storyline. And winning a Grand Slam meant that I had to change who I am as a person, and that felt really unworthy to me.
“So it really felt like some kind of validation to have the amount of support I got just because I got. It’s ‘OK, I think I’m fine’ that’s really important to me and is almost special than actually winning. ”
Keys will return to action this week with BNP Paribas and open about six weeks after the career-defining moment. As the seed of No. 5, she receives a goodbye for the first round and faces Anastasia Potapova on Saturday. She has more eyes than ever before.
She knows her expectations are high, but she knows what she can do and doesn’t put too much pressure on herself. Keys doesn’t understand her new goals at all, and she wants to give herself time to do so. Before the Australian Open, she was reconciled to the perception that she might never win a major — that her psychologist helped her — and things have clearly changed, but she brings that same mentality to her latest chapter.
“It’s one of those kinds like, ‘OK, I did it once, maybe I can do it again’. “But the reality is that there are so many really great players and it’s really hard to win, so it may never happen again. That’s fine too…
“So for the time being, my goal is to manage my expectations and be really honest about how I keep focusing and focusing on really well.
