From wide-eyed rookie to seasoned pro, Madison Keys has come a long way. Keys started playing tennis after she saw Venus Williams wear a stylish dress at Wimbledon. At 10, she moved with her family from Illinois to Florida to train at Chris Evert’s renowned academy. Ever since then, she has never had to look back. Keys turned pro on her 14th birthday, becoming one of the youngest players to win a WTA Tour-level match a few months later. This year, after winning her first Grand Slam title at the age of 30, she made the world realize “age is just a number.” Much like what the Williams sisters and the ‘Big 3‘ did throughout the later phases of their careers. But now, since Serena Williams, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal have already retired from the sport, does it open the doors further for players like her to excel?
Keys’ rise to prominence in the WTA has been one of the biggest stories of the 2025 season. The number 6 has already won two titles this year, and she’s now all set to start her campaign at the Italian Open. But before that, during the press conference, she was asked to reflect a bit on how the level of tennis has been growing rapidly these days. Has the Tour become more open with the retirement of some tennis greats? “I think there’s definitely a lot of players… It’s happening on both tours now more and more, where you can think that there’s like you said, 20 different people that you wouldn’t be surprised if they end up winning the tournament.“
She further went on to highlight, “I think part of it is because we’ve kind of lost some of our legends, obviously. Like, there’s no longer Serena Williams in every draw where you just assume she’s going to win. On the men’s side, you don’t have Roger [Federer], Rafa [Nadal], and Novak [Djokovic] every single week.” Madison Keys then went on to explain how the “base level has gotten much higher” these days with the margin of error getting smaller day by day. “If both players are playing well, the match could come down to just two points.” Keys also spoke about how these days players are getting stronger and how the game has transitioned into “more physical.”
“I think everyone’s doing such a great job at investing in their own careers and having the physios and the fitness and all that. I think more and more people are getting faster and stronger while also staying healthy for longer,” said Keys.
Talking about investing in oneself, well, when Madison Keys won the 2025 AO, tennis legend Serena Williams spoke about how Keys’ commitment to personal growth had led to her incredible success. She congratulated her by saying, “We just saw Madison Keys, congrats to her, winning the Australian Open today…She is so awesome but it also is something I was thinking about, she invested in herself right. She invested in her career and she invested time into tennis, into just being the best that she could be and today she proved she’s one of the best in the world by winning the Australian Open.”
Madison Keys USA mit dem Pokal, Trophäe, Siegerehrung, Presentation, Australian Open 2025, Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. *** Madison Keys USA with the cup, trophy, award ceremony, presentation, Australian Open 2025, Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Copyright: xJuergenxHasenkopfx
Madison Keys has a 23-5 record this season. Can she now get some more wins under her belt in Rome and get inches closer to the Top 5 spot in the women’s singles ranking? Time will tell! One of her biggest hurdles for the last few months has been Aryna Sabalenka. Although she won the AO by defeating her in the final, Keys went down to Sabalenka in the SF of the Indian Wells. Who among these two has had a better season this year, so far?
Tennis legends snubbed Aryna Sabalenka to pick Madison Keys for her incredible start in 2025
The world number one, Aryna Sabalenka, has won three titles this season, and her current win-loss record is a staggering 31-5. Both Sabalenka and Madison Keys have earned a fair bit of success this season already, but Keys has managed to catch the ‘big fish’! On the clay, although Sabalenka fell short in the final of the Stuttgart Open to Jelena Ostapenko, she came back strongly with a title triumph in Madrid. However, Keys has yet to find success on the dirt this year. Who between these two has had a better season so far, according to Tracy Austin and Jim Courier?
According to Austin, “I would take Madi Keys,” and even Courier gave a gentle nod, saying, “I would too. They are both fantastic, but you take the majors!” Speaking about Sabalenka, Austin further added, “She had that little blip in the middle east where she lost her opening round matches in both Doha and Dubai. She said that was the disappointment of not winning the Australian Open for the third time in a row. She is really starting to stand out, the ranking points are way higher than everybody else, and that has to give her that confidence.”
With the Italian Open knocking at the door, if we take a look at their records in this tournament, Aryna Sabalenka reached the final here last year. But she was defeated by Iga Swiatek in straight sets in that match. On the other hand, even Keys was defeated by Swiatek last year in the QF. Keys reached the final of this tournament in 2016, where she was defeated by Serena Williams. Who between these two do you think will have a better outing in Rome this season?
The post “No Longer Serena Williams”- Without the Old Guard, Madison Keys Unpacks the Shift Behind Tennis’ Most Chaotic Era appeared first on EssentiallySports.
