THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 5, 2024

Madison Keys

Press Conference

M. KEYS/M. Kostyuk

6-4, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Madison, how did you feel your level was out there today?

MADISON KEYS: I think I played really well today. Marta is obviously a really tough opponent and has had a really good year so far. So I think I played well, and really happy to be in the second week again.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. I was wondering, it's kind of two different tournaments here. The top players play inside, and everybody else has to play outside and has to wait. Would you like to mix it up a little more that lower-ranked players could play inside as well?

MADISON KEYS: I mean, I think on paper that makes sense, but I don't think in the grand scheme of things...

Q. But then it was the same in Paris. Some people knew when they had to play, and they could play, and others had to wait. Don't you think it's kind of unfair?

MADISON KEYS: I mean, I think tennis is unfair (laughing). I think that's the reality of it. I think there's more and more tournaments that have a roof. If you are lucky enough to get scheduled on that court, you do.

I mean, it's also unlucky if you played first on and I played last on at night, and my opponent played first on. They have more time to recover. I just think it's not a fair sport, unfortunately.

Q. You're playing Jasmine Paolini next. Just your thoughts. She said you practiced last week in Eastbourne together. I wanted to know your thoughts going into that match.

MADISON KEYS: I think it's going to be a tough match. She's obviously playing some of her best tennis of her career. She's had a fantastic year so far.

We practiced in Eastbourne, and she was playing some really good grass tennis. So I'm happy that we got to practice so I at least kind of know what's coming.

I mean, I'm fully anticipating it being a very difficult match.

Q. Just today with Kostyuk, how do you think you played in terms of Kostyuk being a pretty good player? She was seeded too. I just want to know, were you kind of wary of that coming in, like playing one of the top seeds? You played well today, so if you could just explain how you played.

MADISON KEYS: I think going into it I knew that she can play an incredibly high level. So you always have to be aware of that, and you have to expect her to play her best.

I don't think she would think that she played her absolute best today, but I also think that I kept trying from the start to put a lot of pressure on her to try to keep some of the momentum that I kind of got. I think I played her here last year, so kind of knew how she played on grass, which is always helpful.

But, yeah, I think I knew walking out there that I was going to have to play a good level because, like you said, she's a great player, and her level can be incredibly high.

So I think knowing that, I just had to really kind of from the very start be really solid and just kind of see how things played out.

Q. You landed 82% first serves against her today. I wondered whether that was the stand-out for you?

MADISON KEYS: I didn't know I did that, so...

I think that I was obviously trying to make a lot of first serves. I don't think you really want her to have a lot of looks at a second serve. She's a really aggressive player. I think if she can start getting on her front foot and really going for her shots, I think she settles into a match really well.

I was definitely trying to make a lot of first serves and try to keep the momentum in my service games on my side.

Q. Also, if I can follow up with the momentum at the moment for Americans. With Navarro as well. It was quite the morning for you, wasn't it?

MADISON KEYS: Yeah, it's great. It's always amazing to see some of the people that I grew up with doing really well and playing well, and then seeing Emma come along and play some incredible tennis and have an amazing year and figuring out on all surfaces, has been really fun to watch as well.

Q. Would you rather be playing against people you're very friendly with or people you either have animosity toward or something close to that?

MADISON KEYS: I don't have animosity with anyone. So I'm friends with everyone. It's always a friendly match.

Q. We saw yesterday Taylor Fritz and his opponent, there was some bad blood going into the match and Taylor Fritz played against a guy that had said some things about him, and Taylor said that gave him extra motivation, and the match was over before it began because of that. Do you ever internalize anything like that when you play somebody else?

MADISON KEYS: No (laughing), I can't say that I really have. I think going out to the court, it's really just -- for me it's about tennis. I'm really not concerned with what people are saying or doing off of the court.

Q. I wondered, the lower half of the draw, I don't know the head to head with Coco, but to me you're the favorite now in the lower half. How do you see your chances?

MADISON KEYS: I am really just kind of trying to focus on taking it one step at a time. I mean, I would be lying if I said I didn't know that, obviously, Sabalenka pulled out, and you have a lot of big names that kind of fell out at the start. But there's also still some really great players that are in this half of the draw as well.

I think if we've seen anything from the last Wimbledons, it's that anyone can win this tournament at any time. It really doesn't matter if you are a favorite or not.

So it's really just kind of trying to keep your head down and stay focused and not take too big of a bite and really just kind of focus on what's directly in front of you.

Q. You played back-to-back days. Apologies for the British weather. What are your plans? You get a day off now. I'm guessing you're happy about that. What do you plan to do on your day off?

MADISON KEYS: Well, the forecast looks bleak, so probably I'm going to hit indoors tomorrow. I think you kind of know coming into -- I mean, it used to kind of be the entire summer in Europe where a lot of times, I mean, even at Roland Garros you used to get canceled because of darkness, so you kind of knew that there was a lot of chances that you could have played back-to-back days. We don't play five sets, so having to play back-to-back days is not too out of the norm for us.

It's obviously nice to have a day off to kind of take a deep breath and regroup before your next match. But like I said, it doesn't look like there's going to be a whole lot of practice on grass tomorrow unless the forecast really changes.

So probably going to come in early, try to get just even a hit indoors, and then go home and watch everyone else play.

Q. About the Olympics. I think by ranking you should have made it, but you're not in the U.S. squad. Did you decide not to go and why, because you played very well on clay this year I thought?

MADISON KEYS: I chose not to play this Olympics. It was a really tough decision. Having missed the beginning of the season and really trying to stay healthy for the rest of the year and be able to compete, having missed so much time and still kind of feeling like I'm trying to catch up to everyone else, I just felt like there were just so many factors of the surface changes and the time changes and then the back-to-back 1000s before the US Open.

There were just a lot of factors that as I have had many years on the tour now, it just felt like the best chance for me to have a successful, healthy rest of the season. Was to unfortunately miss the Olympics.

Q. Jasmine Paolini is No. 6 in the rankings now, and she's the first Italian ever who made the last 16 in three slams in the same year. She said that she played you in Eastbourne, and on your forehand you have a gun instead of a forehand, but she thinks that she has a great forehand too. When you played with her, what was the score on that, let's say, if there was a game, if it was a set when you played in Eastbourne, and what do you think about her game in particular?

MADISON KEYS: I'm not sure what the score was, but I think that she's obviously had an amazing season. She's playing really, really well. I mean, I think that she has a lot of firepower, which I think surprises people. She plays very strong, and she plays very fast.

I think she moves really well. I think her ability to kind of mix up paces as well really takes people by surprise. I'm looking forward to playing against her, but I'm also expecting her to play really well.