“If you need marital advice, just call me. Feel like I have gotten figured out so far,” Madison Keys joked at the Australian Open this year. Only two months had passed since she married her coach and former ATP pro, Bjorn Fratangelo. They had been a couple since 2017, but their friendship stretched back even further. Their story reads like a tennis fairytale. He became her coach in June 2023. Now, in the 2025 season, after years of waiting, she finally lifted the Australian Open trophy with her husband by her side. Surely, she has some advice for anyone searching for a love like theirs.
For those who don’t know, Keys and Fratangelo first met in 2006. They trained together in Boca Raton, Florida, and joined a tight-knit group of friends. Later, both moved to Orlando and lived in the same apartment complex. They started dating in 2017. After six years together, Bjorn proposed in March 2023. They tied the knot in South Carolina in November 2024. Bjorn, who retired from professional tennis in 2023, began coaching Madison that year. Now, he travels with her, supporting her on tour as her coach.
At the Madrid Open, a reporter asked Madison Keys for advice for singles who admire her relationship. She laughed and said, “Advice for the singles? I don’t know. I’ve been with the same person for almost 10 years so I really don’t know what it’s like out there anymore. But best of luck to all of you, it’ll be great. Just keep going.” That says it all.
Just like Keys, you might have to be patient with your love. After all, they have their fair share of moments when they don’t completely agree with each other as well. Take their coaching dynamic, for instance. Did you know he wasn’t on board the first time Madison asked him to coach her?
In early 2023, Madison split from coach Georgi Rumenov and went solo through the clay season. After the French Open, she turned to Fratangelo for help. She knew mixing business and romance could get messy, but she stayed hopeful. Bjorn’s first answer? “No. Too weird. Too complicated.” His own coach nudged him to reconsider. When he finally agreed, things started to click, but it wasn’t easy. Madison admitted, “It got to the point where I was like, ‘I’m asking you for help. If you see something, you have to tell me what I’m doing wrong.’”
By September 2023, Bjorn shared their coaching journey on the ATP Tour website. He confessed the start was rough, with some tough losses. “Because we’ve done a great job of kind of staying out of each other’s careers over the seven years we’ve been together,” he explained. But once they committed, coaching became fun and refreshing.
Now, Madison thrives under Bjorn’s guidance. But what’s it really like to travel with your coach and husband?
Madison opens up about having your husband on tour all the time
“The best part of being coached by my husband is that we actually get to see each other,” Madison told Stan Sport’s Duncan McKenzie-McHarg on Grand Slam Daily. “When we started dating, he was also playing and we were not on the same schedule, so we would not spend a whole lot of time together. So it’s great that we actually get to spend time together.”
Bjorn Fratangelo, named after tennis legend Bjorn Borg, started playing tennis at just 4 years old. He turned pro in 2012 and had some solid runs, including qualifying for all four Grand Slams. His best moments came at the 2016 French Open and 2017 US Open, reaching the second round in both. That same 2016 French Open saw him break into the Top 100, hitting a career-high ranking of 99. But things took a turn as foot injuries started sidelining him.
In August 2023, Fratangelo qualified for the ATP 500 event in Washington but lost in the first round to Gael Monfils. His last professional match came at a challenger event in Cary before he decided to step away from the sport in 2023. Madison joked about their coaching dynamic, saying, “The not so great part is having to tell him that he was right a lot of the time, not super fun!”
After conquering the Australian Open, Madison made it to the semifinals at Indian Wells. But it’s been a tough stretch with early exits in Miami and Charleston. Now in Madrid, she got past Caroline Dolehide in the first round and is set for a rematch against Anna Kalinskaya, who knocked her out in Miami. Can Madison Keys bounce back and go further in Madrid? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
The post “I Really Don’t Know What…,” Madison Keys Struggles to Understand Modern-Day Dating as She Suffers From Success of a Decade Long Healthy Relationship appeared first on EssentiallySports.
