Keys sheds ‘heavy burden’ to fulfil teenage expectations

From a teenage prodigy to a tour stalwart with “gnarly” injuries, Madison Keys ‘ road to Grand Slam glory has been long and complicated.

When she was just 14 years old, the newly-crowned Australian Open champion immediately became a target for a major victory.

Now, a few weeks before her 30th birthday, the American has finally achieved her goal.

In the Saturday final, Keys defeated two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka to cap an impressive run at Melbourne Park.

According to Keys, “I was concerned that if I hadn’t won a Grand Slam, I wouldn’t have lived up to what people thought I should have,” from a relatively young age.

“That was a pretty heavy burden to carry around,” the author said.

Keys’ quest for the title of Melbourne has not been straightforward.

In April 2009, aged 14 years and 48 days, she became the youngest player since Martina Hingis in 1994 to win a Tour-level match.

Six years later, she advanced to the 2017 US Open and reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open.

In her first major final, Keys froze, though. In a game she thought she had been playing “endlessly for the past eight years,” she lost to Sloane Stephens and won just three games.

Keys has struggled with injuries and dropped out of the top 50 in 2022 despite having reached five other significant semi-finals since then.

“I had to go through some tough things”, said Keys, who will now rise to seventh in the world.

“I had to reevaluate my self-imposed internal pressure,” the author continued.

With or without a Grand Slam, I finally made it to the point where I was proud of both my career and my self-esteem.

In November, Keys married fellow American player Bjorn Fratangelo, who is also her coach.

As far as post-wedding trips go, it could not have panned out any better.

Keys, a strong and aggressive baseliner, won the Adelaide International and grew confident in Melbourne as he prepared for the 2025 season.

“I have the most supportive coach – the best husband in the entire world, who didn’t even want to coach me”, Keys said.

“It took some arm-twisting. Every step of the way, he has fully believed in me.

When Keys won their first Grand Slam title, only three other women had the same age as her.

Keys anticipated a Grand Slam victory, but her team felt differently.

“I have absolutely the greatest team”, Keys said.

“In the instances where I didn’t believe in myself, they have actually believed in me.”

After a few gnarly injuries last year, they helped me completely recover.

Sabalenka paid the price for a slow start and a number of double faults in order to become the sixth woman to win a Melbourne “three-peat” in the end.

The top seed was nowhere near her best, despite her improvement in the second and third sets.

After giving Keys a warm embrace at the net, Sabalenka slammed a racquet and hid beneath her towel before kicking the ball off the court.

There was definitely a little annoyance because I was so close to accomplishing something extraordinary, Sabalenka said.

“I had to let those negative emotions go at the end so I could deliver a speech without being disrespectful.”