ROLAND GARROS

May 30, 2024

Madison Keys

Press Conference

M. KEYS/M. Sherif

6-0, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: A very solid performance today. A quick first set and then a bit of a tight second set. Just talk us through your thoughts on the match, please.

MADISON KEYS: I think I, obviously, started very, very well, and I think she came out a little bit nervous and not playing her best. Then I think she really raised her level in the second set, and I had to kind of take a step back and refocus and try to regroup a little bit.

Just overall super proud of myself for being able to kind of fight off some of those set points and get it done in two.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You played a very fast pace, meaning from point-to-point. You barely ever used 25 seconds. Has it ever occurred that you got a warning for time violation, or would that be a first for you? Is that by design to not give your opponent enough time to prepare?

MADISON KEYS: I've just always played really fast. It's just kind of how I go, and I just kind of move at my own pace.

I don't think I've ever gotten a warning. I would probably melt if I did because it would be very strange. But it's just my natural pace of playing, and I've always been fast in between points.

Q. Looking at your results in recent weeks, I mean they've been really impressive. I just wondered, can you feel when good results like this are coming when you've come into this season? I know clay hasn't necessarily always been your favorite surface, but could you feel that something good was going to happen this year?

MADISON KEYS: No (laughing), it kind of took me by surprise. Going into Madrid I think I had lost, like, first round the five years in a row. Getting that first win was kind of -- it felt really big for me.

Then from then I just kind of have tried to carry over all of that momentum. It was definitely not -- I was not expecting it.

Q. Based on how it has gone, how do you feel now with this tournament? Do your goals increase in some way?

MADISON KEYS: I mean, I think I would be lying if I said that the goal every single slam isn't to come in and try to win it. I've obviously been competitive in slams before, and I've gotten to those final rounds. That's always the goal.

I think the years that I've been able to go really far and do well in slams I'm really not focusing on that. I'm trying to just really focus on the match ahead of me and continue to just focus on what's gotten me in that position so far.

So in some ways, yes, that's kind of always the goal, but in a lot of ways I think the bigger goal is to continue to do all of the really great work round by round.

Q. Can I ask, Badosa and Sabalenka are playing each other on the weekend, and they're super close. What's that like playing a really close friend? It's something you've done a few times. Is it awkward? Is it uncomfortable? How does that dynamic kind of play out?

MADISON KEYS: I think it depends a little bit on just who the people are. I feel like for myself I typically -- it's always a little bit awkward, and you never really want to play your friend, but at the end of the day, we've been doing it for so long that when you walk on the court, you want to win the match. You know when you walk off of the court and you're back in the locker room, that you'll be friends still and go back to normal.

I think for me it's just maybe the "come ons" aren't as loud or as many, but at the end of the day I think it's another tennis match.

Q. How quickly does that kind of snap back to just, okay, we're off, we're friends again, not competitors?

MADISON KEYS: I think it depends probably, but I think for the most part it's pretty quick. Like I said, we've been doing it for so long. When you are on the court, you're obviously incredibly competitive. Whether you come off the court winning or losing, I think you can obviously be disappointed or happy and all of that, but at the end of the day a friendship is a friendship.

Q. I want to ask you about two completely unrelated things, but the first is just with this weather and what it's been like the past few days. Obviously you're happy to win any time you win, but is there also an additional sort of sense of relief of, like, okay, that's behind me, no more waiting around, no more wondering when I'm going to play and all of that? What is maybe the toughest part of the waiting around and not knowing when you'll play and all of that when there is this weather?

MADISON KEYS: I think for me the first round the schedule changed and the practice courts weren't ready yet, so we only got to warm up for 15 minutes. Then I basically ran from the practice court to get ready. So it just added an extra layer of stress and chaos a little bit.

Then being able to get out there and finish a match you kind of take a -- it's like, I'm glad that we actually got to finish.

Then today, I mean, I think I really lucked out and was able to have the roof. As soon as I saw the schedule, I knew right away that it wasn't going to be anything that I was going to have to worry about today. I knew I was going to get on when I was going to get on and wasn't going to have to deal with any delays.

Q. Just wondering, as someone whose partner in life knows about tennis, played, competed himself, are there advantages to that, maybe disadvantages, I don't know, to being with somebody who has been in this world? How much, if at all, do you talk about tennis that you'll ask him for advice or does he say, Hey, did you ever think about trying this, or any of that conversation happen?

MADISON KEYS: I think it's been only advantages. I think him having been, obviously, in the same competitive world at the same time, he really gets it and understands every aspect of it. I think one of the biggest things is especially with coaching now, he knows kind of what you're looking for as a player when you look up at your coach, which is always great.

I think he kind of knows how to communicate to me, so he knows how to say things and how to word them so that they really land and they make sense. It's been only an advantage.

Q. I wanted to ask a very general question. You've been in the game so long since you were a young girl, and we all know that tennis is so demanding, and you said it teaches so many lessons on so many fronts. If you had to step back and say what the sport has really taught you, I don't know, the one or two things that the sport has taught you as a person, what would that be?

MADISON KEYS: I think that when you start playing at such a young age, it's hard not to get wrapped up into the number next to your name meaning everything about you. I think as I've gotten older and as I've gone to therapy, it's been a really learning experience for me that tennis is an amazing part of who I am, but it's not who I am.

I think when you figure that out and you're able to continue to play and just enjoy yourself and not get too wrapped up in tennis being your one and only identity, it makes everything so much better. The wins are better. The losses are easier. You just figure out that tennis is amazing, and it's brought so much into your life, but you are allowed to have other things and be different versions of yourself.

I think it makes you really kind of step back and appreciate the moments that you have on the tennis courts, especially when we get to play in these amazing stadiums in front of crowds. You just really get to kind of fully appreciate it.

Q. Having said that, and on a different topic, you said you were surprised in Madrid, but what do you think has been behind your successes with such a good season?

MADISON KEYS: I have an amazing support group with Bjorn and my PT, Kayla, and my fitness trainer, Lange. They've been just amazing. It was obviously really tough to miss the beginning of the year, and I kind of felt like I was trying to catch up with everyone and putting a little bit more stress on myself. But being able to just be really vulnerable and open with my support team and being able to just kind of lay it all out there on how I was feeling, they've been able to really help me through some tough times and really help get my mind right and be the support that I need them to be.

It's amazing where there's been some really tough matches and being able to look over every point, and they're absolutely backing you. It just gives you that extra push and just sense of relief.

Q. Taylor said yesterday, I think he played on Court 9, that the balls outside wouldn't bounce at all because it was so wet. Now you have played outside. You have played inside. I suppose you like it more to play inside, but what is the main difference? Do the balls really bounce that much higher inside?

MADISON KEYS: I think it's probably more to do when the courts are getting wet. So I've been -- the last two matches I haven't played in the rain or anything. Obviously when it's raining, the balls are getting wet from the rain, but also every time they hit the ground, they're kind of soaking up some of the moisture.

So it's definitely balls are getting heavier and heavier, so they're not going to bounce as much. But I think you kind of know that's happening, and you expect it. I think you kind of just take the moment to make the adjustments that you need to.