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U.S. OPEN

August 24, 2018

Madison Keys

New York, NY, USA

THE MODERATOR: Please welcome to the podium the 2017 US Open finalist, Madison Keys.

Q. Since you were a success last year working with Lindsay Davenport, now working with David Taylor, do you still keep in touch with Lindsay? Is it co-coaching? Can you clarify?
MADISON KEYS: I talk to Lindsay all of the time, more for not-tennis reasons. I feel like we're just constantly texting back and forth (smiling).

But, you know, she's always there to help me with tennis or really anything.

Q. What does David Taylor bring to the camp?
MADISON KEYS: You know, it was more I needed someone who was going to be full time and someone that I could rely on week in and week out, and that was where Lindsay and I couldn't always get our schedules together.

Q. What do you remember most from your run here last year? And what do you think carries over the most from that experience?
MADISON KEYS: I think the biggest thing is remembering that there were a lot of matches where I was down a break in the third or it could have very easily gone the other way.

But I just found a way to stay in the match. I definitely used the crowd. And I think that's the thing that I'm most excited about, just being able to be back in front of a home crowd and have the buzz of the US Open.

Q. In this 50th US Open, I'm asking a few players what favorite memory they have or exciting matches they can remember from the US Open? Do you have anything that stands out in your mind, a favorite US Open match?
MADISON KEYS: One of my absolute favorite US Open matches was Andre Agassi and James Blake when they played that epic night match. I remember it vividly, because it was actually one of the first times I stayed up to watch all of it. That's something I will always remember.

Q. Just talk about how you feel coming back here after what you were able to accomplish last year and the level of confidence and also the expectations for this year.
MADISON KEYS: I think I have to kind of remember it's a new tournament. It's, you know, a different year. People are playing better. I think it's going to be obviously a totally different experience for me.

But I do have the experience of getting through a lot of tough matches and being able to use the crowd to help me through some tough moments.

So that's definitely where I feel like I have that experience under my belt, and I feel more comfortable coming back into this US Open.

Q. Just a quick question about the FearlesslyGiRL summit. From the ones you have been doing and have done in the past, over time, have you been hearing, like, different concerns, like the evolution of different concerns that the girls have? Or is it kind of the same stuff that they are dealing with?
MADISON KEYS: Honestly, a lot of the times, it's the same. I think this group was a little bit more unique because they were all tennis players. So a lot of them had, like, very specific, "How do you feel before a match" kind of questions, things like that. Where a lot of the other girls are just from schools. So it's, you know, "How do I deal with this or that?"

But unfortunately boys are still usually an issue (smiling).

Q. I'm just wondering how you're doing with your wrist. I know you had a little bit of trouble with it. What was the analysis and how do you feel?
MADISON KEYS: It feels fine. I had a ganglion cyst that formed unfortunately right on top of a joint. So I lost a lot of the mobility so it felt like it was jammed all of the time. It was a pretty easy fix, and now I feel really good.

Q. Are you a fearless girl? And if not, what fears do you have?
MADISON KEYS: I don't think "fearless" necessarily means that you're not afraid of anything. I think it's more knowing that you're going to be afraid of things but continuing to do them anyways, so I would like to say that I am. And, you know, even when I'm not, it's definitely something that I strive to be.

What am I afraid of? Like, actually afraid of? I mean, I obviously have a fear of sharks and, like, fire, yeah. But, like, less extreme, I would definitely say I think the fear of letting myself down and not being proud of myself is probably the biggest fear that I have.

Q. You have spoken out against cyber bullying. Does it make you less willing to share sometimes on social media? Or how are you dealing with it knowing what is out there and what a lot of females in particular face online?
MADISON KEYS: I have found that I go through phases of times when I'm willing to share things and when I'm not. Sometimes if I'm not in a good mental space, you'll notice that I don't post much and I'm not really active.

And then other times when I feel good and I know that I can handle it, I'll share things and I'm willing to put my life out there. But I think the biggest thing is not feeling like I have to all of the time and knowing when I need not to just for my own mental well-being.

Q. A lot of players will talk about the importance of enjoying themselves on the court and having fun during matches. How difficult is it to actually have fun during these high-pressure matches? What do you enjoy most when you're on the court?
MADISON KEYS: I think when we say "fun," sometimes we don't mean, like, actual fun, like it's never really fun to be 5-All in the third set, like, break point down.

But I think it's having fun competing and, you know, trying your best and knowing that when you come off the court you gave everything and that's part of enjoying yourself. I mean, granted, when you win easily, then you're, like, Yeah, that was fun today. But you also have to remember that those matches that you win, you know, in a tiebreaker in the third, when you get through them, you feel amazing and they're great and you enjoyed yourself. But that's also the risk that sometimes you're going to be on the losing side of that and maybe not be as thrilled about your experience on the court that day.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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