Keys: “Being so focused on tennis didn’t help me as much as I needed”

Madison Keys went from being a middle-class tennis player in the WTA rankings to having all the spotlight on her after unexpectedly winning the 2025 Australian Open, defeating Iga Swiatek in the semifinals and Aryna Sabalenka, the two-time champion, in the final. It was a success born from never giving up and always believing in herself.

But before this feat, Keys realized that obsessing over tennis every day was not helping her achieve her goals of becoming one of the best players in the world. However, she didn’t realize this until she went to therapy. That’s when she understood that there were more things in life apart from her profession.

Happiness off the court

“For me, being so focused on tennis didn’t help me as much as I needed. I think seeking help and analyzing my life in general, and how that influenced how I felt on the court, probably made the biggest difference. Also, I have always tried to have a life outside of tennis, which has helped me a lot on the court,” said the world number eight during her time at Wimbledon to Tennis.com.

While Madison Keys was explaining her outlook on life, Alexander Zverev confessed, after his Wimbledon elimination, that he was going through a depression and feeling very lonely. To this, the American argued: “You are not just a tennis player. You are a complete person with all these other excellent qualities, other interests, and different aspects of your life.”

Furthermore, she revealed the recipe for her work ethic, in line with what was mentioned before: “Building your confidence in tennis is different from other sports. In my case, I built my confidence off the court, in training and in the gym. It’s about being aware of doing all you can and all that is under your control. However, when you play a tennis match, you have another person on the other side of the net who has probably done the same as you.”

She also discussed the tightly packed tournament circuit that causes dynamics to change in the blink of an eye, for better or worse: “You have those weeks when you think you’re doing everything right, and then others when you’re not, but the beauty of tennis is that the following week you have a new tournament and everything can change in a moment,” says Keys, who has found the key to enjoying both on and off the court.
 

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Keys: “Estar tan centrada en el tenis no me ayudó tanto como necesitaba”