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WIMBLEDONJune 25, 2013Madison KeysLONDON, ENGLAND M. KEYS/H. Watson THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Talk about Wimbledon, first main draw match, what your feelings were before you went on the court and the way you felt the way it went overall? MADISON KEYS: I was definitely pretty nervous at the beginning. Once I started playing the match a little bit, getting into it, felt a lot better. After winning my first one, feel really good about it. Q. I think you said when you came off court that during warmup, someone was cheering when you hit a ball into the net. MADISON KEYS: Yeah, the first ball, I missed it into the net. Someone next to me was like, Yes, come on. Q. First time in your life? MADISON KEYS: Yes, that's never happened before. Q. You felt pretty comfortable as it went on? You know Heather. You probably hit with her before. MADISON KEYS: Yeah, I mean, I know Heather. We played juniors together. We never actually played a match against each other but knew each other's games. You know, just knew each other. One of those matches. So, you know, really happy I got through it and played well. Q. How difficult is it playing a home player, a player who is being cheered so wildly? MADISON KEYS: I mean, it's difficult. But at the same time it happens to everyone. Everyone's at home eventually. I mean, the Wimbledon crowd, they appreciate tennis. So it's not ever just one‑sided. Q. You said once that you liked the loud crowd wherever you played. Would you rather it be loud and against you or just dead silent? MADISON KEYS: I would rather it be very loud against me than completely silent. I don't know what I would do with complete silence. Q. So what do you think about this place, Wimbledon? How does it compare to other places you've played? MADISON KEYS: I mean, I think you walk in and you just know it's Wimbledon. I think it just has that class. It's just different than all the other Grand Slams. So far it's been really nice. Q. Is there any sense of camaraderie among the young American women that are coming up right now, or is it you're all doing well on your own path? MADISON KEYS: No, we all are friends, we all talk. I think we all really encourage each other, which I think is why we've all been really doing well. We've been kind of feeding off each other. Yeah, we're friendly. We all talk. We all hang out. Q. We have all these young players, dynamic country. Do you think you're part of something special, a turn of tennis in America? MADISON KEYS: I mean, I think it's great. I'm not sure how many, but I know we have a lot of women in the top 100. I know even the men are starting to show up a little bit more. I think it's great. It seems like countries usually come up together. So it's great that this is kind of our time right now. Q. It looks like from the outside you have a very good game for grass. Do you feel that yet? Are you adjusting to the surface? MADISON KEYS: Still trying to get used to it. Haven't played lots of matches on grass. But, you know, love the serve on grass, love that there's not long points like on red clay. So, you know, getting used to it and liking it more and more. Q. How much do you practice with some of the other young Americans, like Sloane Stephens and Jamie Hampton? MADISON KEYS: Well, Sloane trains in California, so I don't hit much with Sloane when we're in the States. But Jamie Hampton and Melanie Oudin both train in Boca, so we hit quite often. Q. If you see Jamie working out before you out on the courts, does that piss you off or drive you to work harder? MADISON KEYS: I mean, it doesn't piss me off (smiling). If you know Jamie, she's out there all the time. She just works really, really hard. I think that just kind of motivates me, you know, to work just as hard. Q. What is your favorite part of working with the group, working with the USTA? MADISON KEYS: I just really love that being in different countries, you know, we still have a support group, and there's people to be around. I think it would be very hard if there were just one or two of us the entire time we were here. Q. If and when you imagined yourself playing in a slam when you were younger, did you imagine yourself on grass here or at the US Open? Where was it? MADISON KEYS: I think it was probably on hard court just because that was pretty much all I had seen. But really happy to be on grass now. Q. What did you make of Heather's performance today? Did you sense she was a little bit flat after her glandular fever? MADISON KEYS: Yeah, I know she had a rough couple of months, I think. But I thought we played pretty well. I know she served well. You know, it must be really tough trying to come back. I hope, you know, in a couple months she feels even better. Q. Can you talk about your journey from the start of the year. You started off well, up and down at times, but how it's been because it's more or less your first full six, seven months on tour. MADISON KEYS: Yeah, this is the first full year that I've been able to play. So, you know, started off pretty well in Australia, then a little bit up and down through Indian Wells, Miami. The red clay, I think I did pretty well for first time. But, you know, could have been better. Just hoping to improve on it next year. You know, just gonna hopefully finish off the grass and be happy with that. Then move on to the US Open Series. Q. Physically how are you holding up since it's your first full year playing a fairly full schedule? How is your body at this point? MADISON KEYS: Right now it's still good. You know, the occasional aches and pains. But expected. Very happy with how everything's been going so far. Q. Has it felt like you've been in Europe like forever? MADISON KEYS: Yes, it has. I'm going on like nine weeks in Europe. So, you know, hopefully want to stay here as long as possible, but also going to be very happy when I go home. Q. Back in France, Serena Williams was asked to describe herself in one word. She came up with a spectacular answer. If you were asked to describe yourself in a word, what would that be? MADISON KEYS: Uhm, sarcastic (smiling). Q. You've got to be kidding. Do you enjoy the sassy part of life? MADISON KEYS: Yeah, I'm more of a laid‑back person. I like to find the humor in things. I mean, all my friends know that I'm a very sarcastic person. You know, I like to make everyone laugh. Don't really like tense moments. I definitely throw in a joke every once in a while. Q. How did you feel about that last point in the match, the last game? MADISON KEYS: Uhm, I had two in the last game. Kind of felt a little bit guilty about that. But, you know, it happens. I was just really happy that I had played well up until that point. So, I mean, it happens. It's probably going to happen against me eventually one day, so... Q. Are you sarcastic with yourself on court in your head? MADISON KEYS: Yes, I am (smiling). Q. What do you say to yourself? MADISON KEYS: I'll miss a serve really, really long. I'll ask myself, questioning if it was in, if I could hit it any farther out. Just things like that. Q. I know it's old news now, but can you believe it's four years since you beat Serena? I know it was only an exhibition match, but as a 14‑year‑old, can you explain what that did for your confidence back then. MADISON KEYS: Honestly, it feels like it was yesterday. These last four years have just completely flown by. And I don't think I gained tons of confidence from that match. But I think over the years, you know, playing more and more matches, getting more and more experience has been more of a confidence builder for me. Q. In that second set when Heather had her good spell, was the sarcastic voice in you saying, Here we go again? MADISON KEYS: Not so much. Today my sarcastic voice really wasn't there. Q. How many times have you been to Chipotle? MADISON KEYS: I have not been to Chipotle since I left, which has been very tough for me. Q. What have you been eating here? MADISON KEYS: We've been to the Wimbledon Village a couple times, been there. My friend, who has been traveling with me, has fallen in love with Nando's. We've gone to Nando's a couple of times. Q. Which is basically like going to Chipotle? MADISON KEYS: Basically, yeah (smiling). Q. Watching you on the court today, you were really serious, really focused. Nothing like the person we're seeing now. Is that a real conscious effort to not be your normal self but your player self on the court? MADISON KEYS: Yeah. I think for me sometimes if I allow myself to get too down on myself or if I let, you know, my emotions on the court more so, it doesn't help me. So I try to stay more serious and more focused on the court. Q. As you get more experienced and kind of more used to all this, might we see more of the real you on court in time? MADISON KEYS: I'm sure the real me will come out a couple of times throughout my career. But hopefully gonna try to keep the serious Madison on court more often. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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