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ROLAND GARROS

May 26, 2016

Madison Keys

Paris, France

M. KEYS/M. Duque-Marino

6-3, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Another pretty routine outing, no?
MADISON KEYS: Yeah, it's fun. (Laughter.)

Q. Talk about the match.
MADISON KEYS: The beginning was a little bit difficult. She was playing really well, gets a lot of balls back. Seemed a little bit heavier at the start as well. Felt like the ball was definitely a little bit slower.

After I found my footing I think I played pretty well and got a little bit more rhythm and momentum and then kind of figured it out.

Q. Can you see comfort or confidence coming match by match? Do you come off court and feel a shift or are the changes too incremental to notice it? You notice it a few weeks or something down the road.
MADISON KEYS: I think the biggest thing is not the confidence so much as just being calm on the court and knowing that if things aren't going perfectly I can figure it out. I don't have to hit 70 winners in order to figure out how to win a match.

Q. I know you haven't been with Thomas that long, but is it just a nice boost to get someone different who you see, Oh, yeah, this person has a lot of confidence in me. Does that help you a lot versus getting on the court and doing anything, which you'll do over the next several months?
MADISON KEYS: For sure. I think someone who has worked with Maria Sharapova and Li Na and a lot of other great players who says to me, You can do this. I have tons of confidence in you. Is really beneficial to me.

I think just the biggest part is I see how he's changed people's games and how they've become more comfortable on all surfaces. Seeing that, it's very easy to trust him.

Q. How are things with the adductor? You've had that so many...
MADISON KEYS: (Knocking on wood.)

Q. I'll do that too.
MADISON KEYS: Knock on wood. Everyone knock on wood.

Q. Have you done anything different to manage that?
MADISON KEYS: I have a full-time physio that goes with me everywhere. I get treatment at least once a day. I obviously have a body that is more prone to injury than other people's, so I'm doing everything I can to limit all injuries.

Q. In Rome you had some different conditions that you had to play through. Some were very, very heavy. I think you said there learning how to play in the heavier clay conditions is a little bit different than playing in hot ones. Are you feeling that translate a little bit in the first two matches here? Hasn't been hot; ball hasn't been flying; you've been able to manage it okay?
MADISON KEYS: I think so. The Muguruza match in Rome was very heavy. It was so heavy it was raining at times. No, being able to play a match like it and figure out who to win points not being able to just blast a winner because the court is so much slower has been really helpful here.

Based on forecast, seems like I'm going to have to keep relying on that. Definitely going to be a lot slower and heavier than it was the first couple days in Rome.

Q. Different players have different reactions to this. Some players say when they get to a Grand Slam they need to treat it like a Grand Slam. It's bigger than the other events. Other players say, No, I try to keep it super normal and treat it like any other event. How do you approach it?
MADISON KEYS: I would be lying if I said I came in and it felt the exact same. It's a Grand Slam. You feel it. You just feel everyone's energy is a little bit higher, the anxiety is a little bit higher, and it's more special. I think you have to manage that.

For me, it's kind of finding the middle ground between taking it seriously and it being a Grand Slam, but also taking a step back and thinking, This isn't the last Grand Slam you'll ever play. Take a breath and have fun.

Q. Does the day on, day off exacerbate that? Does it make it easier to manage that anxiety or more difficult because you have more time to think in downtime and all that?
MADISON KEYS: I think it's both. I think like in Australia, after I won that match against Petra, the next day was very good for me just because I had a day to process and settle down and not have to come back and play a match right away.

You could get more anxious potentially, so I think just going out and treating it as a practice day and not getting ahead of myself and thinking about the next round is a way that I deal with it.

Q. Do all the slams have equal standing in your mind, all four?
MADISON KEYS: For sure. I definitely put all four of them on the same level. I want to do well at every single one.

Q. You're Floridian by way of Chicago, but do you consider yourself a warm-climate player or does it matter to you? Do you like a chill in the air?
MADISON KEYS: I kind of like it. I've always kind of enjoyed playing in colder weather, which doesn't make a ton of sense because I like when it's faster.

But I'm always a big fan of seasons, and sometimes not playing in the hot, humid weather all the time is a really nice change.

Q. What's going on with your sister these days? Any requests for things you need to buy her?
MADISON KEYS: My youngest one actually called me yesterday and I answered the phone and she was just like, Where are you? I'm in Paris. Are you in the French Open? Yeah, I am. Oh. The teacher asked me about it and I wasn't sure. Yeah, no, I'm here.

Paris sounds like a really good place to buy me presents. You know, it's really expensive stuff so I feel like you probably wouldn't like it. No, no, I probably would. I was like, We'll talk about it.

Then she said, Okay. Here's mom. That was the end of our conversation. (Laughter.)

Q. How old is she now?
MADISON KEYS: 14. The youngest one is 14, and I have a 17 year old sister as well.

Q. Speaking of you buying presents, but you ever get stuff from strangers, like presents that -- I don't know, nice stuff? Jewelry?
MADISON KEYS: I've gotten a couple things from fans. Teddy bears or one of my fans went through and realized I had an obsession with elephants, so she brought me a bracelet with an elephant charm on it. So I've gotten little things here and there.

Q. Didn't know about the elephants.
MADISON KEYS: Just stalk my Twitter likes and you would know.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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