Madison Keys, fresh from her emotional Australian Open victory, arrived at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells with a thoughtful perspective. “I don’t think anyone really thrives when you have such a dramatic mind shift so quickly after success,” she stated. After years of relentless pursuit, including a painful 2017 US Open final loss, Keys finally captured her first Grand Slam title in Melbourne, becoming the first American woman – or American period – to win the Melbourne Slam in five years. However, that doesn’t mean it didn’t carry its implications.
The fifth seed arrived in Indian Wells and played her first match on Saturday, March 8, after receiving a bye in the first round. Without wasting much resources, Keys crushed Anastasia Potapova 6-3, 6-0, to book a Round of 32 date against Elise Mertens. Subsequently, during a conversation with the reporters, the American sensation was asked is she experienced a sudden crash after the Australian Open, given the hectic schedule of travel and media appearances before returning home.
It is important to note that the American was out of action since her Melbourne finals on Jan 25th. Which is over a month off from tennis. “Yeah, there was probably three or four days where I didn’t really leave the house, kind of just laid on the couch, was kind of just doing bare minimum, grocery shopping, and then that was kind of the outing of the day,” she said at the Masters 1000 event. Did she collapse?
“Yeah, I mean, obviously physically it was a lot, but it’s just also mentally and emotionally it’s a lot. Being able to kind of just have some days at home and not have to do anything and just be horizontal was really nice.”
48 hours after her win, Keys, in a conversation with ABC News, revealed that while years of encouragement about her potential Grand Slam victory initially boosted her confidence, the mounting time without a win led to a growing fear of failure. She questioned, “If I don’t win one, am I a failure?” This, in some way, led her to take therapy. And it totally paid off!
“I don’t even think I consciously knew I was feeling it, but it felt like year after year, that internal pressure was really building,” she said. “It finally took going to therapy and getting really honest. I started saying things that I didn’t even know had become kind of core beliefs of mine. Being able to break those down and get to the point where I was really proud of my career and everything that I’ve done without winning a Grand Slam, I think I finally gave myself the freedom to go out and play at the level that I knew that I had.”
Before commencing her hardcourt campaign, Keys explained that staying grounded in the wake of her breakthrough season would substantially increase her chances of registering a fruitful outing in Indian Wells. She said it was “really important for me and for my team to remember how we got there and what we were doing. And I think kind of going back to that, and staying grounded in that is going to be important.”
For those unaware, the 30-year-old thwarted Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka‘s bid for a three-peat after she outclassed the World No. 1 in Melbourne earlier this year. Some might believe that bringing glory back home would change her – put her on a pedestal.
What they don’t know is that while tinkering with her game, Keys did not compromise on her core values for the elusive prize.
Madison Keys says that winning the Australian Open wasn’t “worth it” if…
American superstar Madison Keys sat down for a chat with ESPN before launching her Indian Wells campaign. She discussed a variety of subjects and, naturally, it wasn’t long before the conversation veered towards the biggest achievement of her career. The 30-year-old not only gave an insight into her mindset but also explained that she valued being a good person over a good player.
The World No. 1 elaborated, saying that if she had to dump being a good person for the Australian Open title, the trade-off wasn’t worth it. “I’ve always wanted being a good person to be the lead about me,” she said. “I always rebelled against the thought that nice people couldn’t be successful. I always hated that storyline.”
She continued, “And I felt like, if winning a Grand Slam meant that I had to change who I was as a person and somehow become meaner or not as nice, then it wasn’t really worth it to me, because I don’t want to change who I am just to have some sort of achievement that, let’s be real, in five years, no one’s going to care.”
For now, the American sensation will focus on furthering her agenda in Tennis Paradise. She is currently on a 13-match winning streak and will aim to lift her title for the season at the Indian Wells Masters. Keys will next take to the court on Monday, March 10.
The post “It Was a Lot”: Exhausted Madison Keys Reveals the Hidden Struggles of Her Australian Open Glory appeared first on EssentiallySports.
