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THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 1, 2019

Madison Keys

Wimbledon, London, England

M. KEYS/L. Kumkhum

6-3, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You didn't play any grass leadups. Curious what was behind that decision?
MADISON KEYS: I was kind of dealing with a couple of things here and there after Paris. I wanted to be 100% healthy coming into the grass. Obviously it's a surface that you need to be 100% ready to go, so I thought it was better to take that time to get my body back to 100% before coming onto it.

Q. Obviously you have done well with the big grass leadups before. Was this an easy decision...
MADISON KEYS: It's definitely never an easy decision, honestly, going back home. I had like two extra dates I probably would have still played a leadup, but it's kind of the you do so well at the French Open and then you slowly run out of time before Wimbledon. It's obviously a good problem to have.

Q. What have you seen so far in Coco?
MADISON KEYS: Honestly, I haven't gotten to watch a ton of her matches. I think she's incredibly mature for her age. I don't think watching her you think she's as young as she is, which is really impressive.

But I'm actually looking forward to actually being able to sit down and watch her play a match.

Q. How would you describe what you have taken during the course of your maturation from the Venus example? Obviously there is so much attention on Serena. But what about Venus specifically?
MADISON KEYS: I think Venus, to me, she was part of the reason I started playing tennis, but not only that, I got to play World TeamTennis with her when I was really young. I got to play her for the very first time before I got to play Serena.

So I think I have always had -- I have always been watching Venus' career and it's always been great to feel like I have more of a personal connection.

But I think, to me, Venus just enjoys tennis so much, and that's part of why she's still out here playing and doing so well.

Q. Slightly random question. Wonder what you made of the new facilities down on the practice courts, open-air gym?
MADISON KEYS: Oh, they're great. It's such a great little warmup space. I think everyone is really enjoying all of the upgrades that Wimbledon has made.

Q. Some people always say Australia is the slam that has the best facilities and best for the players. Wondering what you thought of which one sort of comes out tops for you?
MADISON KEYS: I think they're all different. I think obviously they're all making improvements, but I think every slam has its own vibe and things that they do really well.

So I don't know if I would be able to just pick one.

Q. I'm intrigued about your decision to counterbalance Wimbledon white with black nail polish?
MADISON KEYS: It really wasn't that deep (smiling).

Q. Revenue sharing got a lot of talk going into Wimbledon. Wonder what you think about pay equity as it applies not to the slams but the minor tournaments where the pay is not the same for men and women?
MADISON KEYS: I think that's obviously always a discretion, and I think the WTA Tour is obviously doing what they can to get sponsors and get more people involved in tennis and grow the sport. If we're able to do that, then I think we're able to balance a lot of those tournaments.

Q. Are you happy with where it's at right now?
MADISON KEYS: I mean, I'm obviously happy with the sense of we're "the" most equal women's sport. I definitely think that we can still become more equal and we can level that out. But I think we have a pretty good footing right now and I think we definitely have a lot of opportunity to grow.

Q. Do you still want to be on player council? Still an ambition of yours?
MADISON KEYS: Uh-huh.

Q. Did you hear about the men's player council Friday, seven hours and three quit afterwards and it was apparently terrible?
MADISON KEYS: You want me to be on the player council, right? (Smiling.)

Q. I was wondering what you heard about this experience. It can be a lot of work for people. Maybe the women are not as painful to each other. I don't know.
MADISON KEYS: Man, after that, you're making me rethink things. I kind of saw on Twitter that people were resigning. I don't really know why. I don't really pay attention to the ATP player council. It has nothing to do with me, so...

Hopefully, if I do get on the player council, there is a lot less drama.

Q. What do you make of all the different major champions on the women's side while, at the same time, the men, three guys have won the last 10, 9 different women have won the last 10, and how does it affect your mental approach to trying to climb that mountain yourself?
MADISON KEYS: I think the women's game just has so much depth right now. Everyone is a contender at every slam. I think it's really exciting. I definitely like being a part of that mix. Not only as a player but just as a fan, being able to see all of these great women, you know, competing against each other and doing really well.

Q. Are you encouraged when you see the different names winning the majors?
MADISON KEYS: 100%. I think it not only shows the depth but it also makes things really interesting and entertaining, and it gets a lot of people's names out there.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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