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ROGERS CUP

July 31, 2016

Madison Keys

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

S. HALEP/M. Keys

7-6, 6-3

An interview with:

MADISON KEYS

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What do you think was the difference today for you?
MADISON KEYS: I don't think I was serving as well today. I think it was just a matter of close points here or there. That was really the whole match.

I feel like especially the second set was a lot closer than the score.

Q. The serve is such a technical thing, any thoughts on why it wasn't there today?
MADISON KEYS: Maybe it was just I hit a lot of serves this week. Maybe it was a little bit of nerves. I think it was a combination of a lot of different things.

Q. What do you take from the week? It was a very good week otherwise. To end it with a loss in the final, do you still look at it as a good week for you?
MADISON KEYS: Yeah, I mean, there's only one person who is going to walk away and be completely happy with this week. You know, I'm obviously not going to say it's a bad week just because I lost one match. I think I played really a pretty good tournament. I wish today went a little bit differently. Sometimes it happens.

Just take the positives from that and move on.

Q. What do you think let you down in your game today?
MADISON KEYS: I definitely think I wasn't serving as well today. Also I think I was starting to press a little bit. I think there were some times when I maybe could have taken a step back and hit a safer ball. I think I was just going for some shots too early today.

Q. Did you at any point tell yourself, Man, was she not supposed to be tired?
MADISON KEYS: No. I mean, I knew she was going to get a lot of balls. No matter how many matches she was going to play, she was going to be playing well. She obviously had a good week. I was expecting her to be moving well.

Q. You've talked about having to take a step back. Obviously you've been very successful over the past weeks doing that. Not so much today. How difficult is it with saying it and actually doing it in the moment when you're trying to take the match on your own terms?
MADISON KEYS: It's difficult. I think it's a balancing act of knowing when to do it and knowing when not to do it. I think the more matches you play, obviously the more comfortable you feel in that. Also, the more matches you play in a tighter situation or on a bigger stage, I think the more matches you get and you're able to figure that out, I think the more comfortable you're at it.

Q. Do you think when you went out there, you had the right tactics in your head, you just couldn't execute? Were you playing not the way you thought you should be playing to get the match on your terms?
MADISON KEYS: I think I started playing the way that I wanted to. Then I feel like I wasn't winning a lot of the points. That's when I kind of started to get frustrated. That's maybe when I started to go for things too soon. I think maybe I started pressing on my serve a little bit more as the match went on, as well.

Q. How disruptive is next week going to be in your preparation? There will be a lot of things going on. I don't know if you have to meet the rest of the team, then go down, the ceremony. How do you think it's going to work out, the next five, six days?
MADISON KEYS: I think it's going to be really busy. I mean, even tonight I'm getting on a flight home, then I have to go to Houston. It's crazy. At the same time there's not very many people who get to go to the Olympics and represent your country.

As crazy and as disruptive as maybe some people think it's going to be, I also think it's a huge honor and I'm really excited to go play for my country.

Q. On the Olympics, are you going down there with the mindset of medal, medal, medal, or with the mindset of this is the Olympics, I want to enjoy the experience? Lindsay said in the past people just go and have fun at the Olympics. How do you see it?
MADISON KEYS: It's funny, Lindsay actually called me before. She said, You're going to go. You're going to the open ceremonies. You're going to go to the village. You're going to experience the Olympics.

I'm really excited to do that. But she also said, If you're in a position where you could potentially win a medal, that's when you stop going to the village and you don't go to the other sports (smiling).

It's a combination of both. It's enjoying it, but it's also knowing when to enjoy it and when to be focused.

Q. If you do get an opportunity to see one other sport in Rio, what would that sport be?
MADISON KEYS: Oh, I don't know. There's so many I want to go to. I think swimming would be really fun to go see and the gymnastics, as well.

Q. Does it feel like after the same tournaments every year you're kind of leaving the tour for a few days to go to the Olympics?
MADISON KEYS: Yes and no. We're going, playing the same people, it's just in a different country. But it's exciting because it's not something that we normally get to do. It's a different place. None of us will be 100% used to where we're going. I don't think that happens very often.

Q. You're close to breaking through to a higher level, to getting the dream result. What do you think it's going to take for you to get there? A matter of time or anything else?
MADISON KEYS: I think it's more hard work and I think it's, you know, just doing a lot of what I've been doing, but just consistently doing it. I've been doing it for four or five months now. But I don't think it's going to happen that quick.

I think if I continue to do what I've been doing, then good things will happen.

Q. In the American team, is there someone you're looking forward to hang out with amongst all the athletes representing the U.S.?
MADISON KEYS: I don't know. I'll let you know if I meet anyone cool.

Q. You said on court that you're difficult to deal with sometimes with your team. What are your most difficult qualities?
MADISON KEYS: I mean, some days it's tough. Some days I go into the gym and with Scott I'm just complaining with every single exercise he tells me that I have to do. Usually I walk out and then I'll call him later and say, Sorry I was a brat today.

But it's tough. We're with each other every day. That's not easy. Some days it's easier than others to go out and work and give 100%. So I just think in that sense I'm really lucky I have the team around me.

Q. How does it work for the Olympics? Does your whole team come with you or is there a U.S. Olympic coach?
MADISON KEYS: You can bring your own coach, but they can't stay in the official hotel, they don't get the official transportation. So Mary Joe is going with us. I think we have one or two hitters. Like my team isn't going, also because it's so expensive to get everyone there. I'm just going with Mary Joe and the U.S. Olympic team. I'll meet my team back in the next place, I guess.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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