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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 15, 2019

Madison Keys

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

M. KEYS/D. Aiava

6-2, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. First competitive match of the season. How were the nerves walking out there and how would you rate that in terms of your first match?
MADISON KEYS: There is always nerves before any Grand Slam match, but especially when you haven't played any matches leading up to it. Definitely a little bit nervous. I felt like I had to just keep my feet moving and try to get all of that out.

But after being able to kind of get it quickly, I felt a lot better.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about the rationale in terms of having this be your first event, not playing a leadup, and then just in general, preseason, how all that went for you?
MADISON KEYS: Honestly, I just kind of ran out of time. I had a more significant injury than I originally thought that I had, so I actually needed more time off at the end of the season when I didn't think that was going to be the case.

So I wish I could have played a warmup tournament. It wasn't planned this way, but it just made more sense to make sure my body was 100% and try to have an injury-free year instead of trying to rush things.

Q. When you decide to not play a warmup tournament, you said it wasn't really voluntary, but is there stress, like, involved in that decision knowing that you won't get the match play?
MADISON KEYS: I mean, there is a little bit of stress, but at the same time, it is what it is. I couldn't do anything about it. So all I could do was prepare as well as I could and play as many practice sets and all of that that I could in the week leading up to it. Luckily things paid off, and I got the win today.

Q. Also, yesterday Andy was in, he had a dramatic match and he said he kind of regrets the fact that he sometimes trained, sometimes tried too hard. For you as a player, how difficult is it to prioritize your body when you have all these goals and want to achieve things and when you are a younger...
MADISON KEYS: It's definitely hard, because you have to find the right balance, but you have to find the right balance for your own body. Everyone is different. So it's been something that I have struggled with, and I'm still trying to figure it out when to go hard on the court, when to back off. It's always a work in progress. Still trying to find it.

You know, it's one thing that I think we all know Andy worked probably the hardest of anyone and absolutely gave everything on the court.

Q. Just to clarify, in terms of the injury, are you talking about the leg injury from China?
MADISON KEYS: Yeah, knee injury.

Q. Knee or hip?
MADISON KEYS: Knee.

Q. Right or left?
MADISON KEYS: Left (smiling).

Q. When you are injured, how do you stay sane and not lose your mind?
MADISON KEYS: Honestly, I just kind of step away from tennis and enjoy my friends and family and do normal things. I was really excited to go to the grocery store, like, every day (smiling). I usually don't get to do that. So it was the little things like that that I was always really excited about.

I have a great group of friends who all live very close to me, and they were an amazing support system.

Q. Last year obviously a really strong slam season, two semifinals, which sometimes I think people kind of forget about that. But as you, with the late start of your preseason and all that, and maybe coming in without the match play, does that sit in the back of your head a little bit that you're pretty good at these?
MADISON KEYS: It's funny, because in a lot of ways, I felt like I didn't have the best season, like I wasn't super happy with it, but there was also moments that I was really proud of where I did do really well.

So it's one of those things where it's like I want a more consistent year and I want to do better at some of the smaller tournaments and do all of that, but I still want the slam results.

Still trying to figure out where that balance falls, and who knows? Maybe just not playing any warmup tournaments is the way to go (smiling).

Q. Does it feel different for you at the slams? Because it seems that irrespective of how well you were doing before or like this time you didn't have a buildup in general, does something different click for you?
MADISON KEYS: I think it's just different. It's all of a sudden, for me, I'm more nervous and more locked in and all of that. That's actually something that I'm really working hard on to be able to do that more often and not have to have it be a slam for that switch to kind of happen for me.

Q. You hired a new coach? I'm wondering, how long does it usually take you to get in the groove with someone with you, or is it easy for you?
MADISON KEYS: I usually know within a week or two if we're gonna be good together and get along and it's just right away you know if you kind of meld with someone.

So Jim and I, from the start, it's been easy and it's been great. It's been a really good couple of weeks working on a lot of things.

Q. What's his vision for your game?
MADISON KEYS: He wants me to obviously keep doing the things that I do well, like being aggressive and all of that. And funny enough, he wants me to be more aggressive on second-serve returns and, you know, smarter, but definitely more aggressive and have a good intention when I'm getting ready for that.

He's unfortunately working on my defense, so I run a lot (smiling), which I haven't been super happy about. But I know that one day when I'm running and I defend a point and I win it, I'm going to be like, Yes, so worth it. That's been the two big things.

Q. You said there was a joy in going to the grocery store. What's fun about going to the grocery store?
MADISON KEYS: I mean, there is food there, so... I think that's self-explanatory (smiling).

Q. Just in terms of when you are able to start your preseason, since you had to have an extended time to heal, when was that? And also, you're looking quite fit to start the year. Did the knee injury prevent you from doing the fitness work that you wanted to do at all?
MADISON KEYS: I started being able to do some stuff at the beginning of December, but I was still a little bit limited, and it was still seeing, you know, if we did something physical one day, kind of had to back off the next day.

It was definitely managing that still for the first probably ten days, so it was middle of December before I really got to ramp things up. We have been training a lot, so I'm glad you said that I looked fit. Thank you.

Q. Although you're not crazy about defense, do you consider yourself a fast player? You seem to move very well, you slide on hard courts. How would you rate your movement?
MADISON KEYS: I think my movement is, it's gotten a lot better. It's something I have been very focused on. I think it's more what I do when I get there is my issue. So I'm working on making the right decision once I have slid into the ball, that's more my problem. So that's more what we have been working on.

Q. On the men's side they have a lot of upheaval going on and lots of political talk. Wondering for you, since you mentioned before, daughter of a lawyer, and arguments, are you involved in any of the WTA stuff or when there are meetings are you the kind of person you have opinions or stuff like that, or are you not really involved?
MADISON KEYS: I have opinions. I actually -- I really want to be on the player council this year, so hopefully people will vote for me. It's something that I would really like to be a part of, and I think, you know, it's our responsibility to help grow our own game, so I would like to be a part of that.

Q. Anything in particular that you feel very passionately about that you'd like to discuss or like to change?
MADISON KEYS: I'm definitely happy, at least in the States, that we have a lot more TV coverage scheduled for next year. I know the fans were pretty vocal about that last year, so that's definitely a step in the right direction.

But I think there are just a lot of different ways that I think we can grow the sport, more, bigger tournaments and all of that. I mean, I don't want to be the typical political person who's like, I promise all these things, and then you get in then and you're like, Oh, wait, that's not possible.

I definitely want to be a part of the conversation so I understand things more.

Q. How important is it to you that the tournaments stay in the United States?
MADISON KEYS: I think there is a pretty good handful of tournaments in the United States. Obviously there are some that are leaving and getting switched around and all of that. Selfishly I would like more tournaments in the United States, but at the same time, I think we also need to branch out and it's a world sport, so wherever the fans want us is where we should go.

Q. If a player asked you why they should vote for you, what would you tell them?
MADISON KEYS: Because I'm really great (smiling). That's all I've got so far.

Q. Good luck.
MADISON KEYS: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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