She is the player who Madison Keys picked up her first ever WTA win against when she was just 14-years-old

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Madison Keys is grabbing all the headlines at the moment after winning her first Grand Slam title.

Keys made history at the Australian Open, after beating Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek in back-to-back matches.

Both matches were very tight, with Keys hitting clutch winners against Sabalenka in the deciding set.

The American appears to have been a very popular winner, with even Serena Williams congratulating Keys on her maiden major victory.

Keys has also won the Adelaide international this year, and is now back at her previous career-high ranking of world number seven.

As a result of her new ranking, it has meant that Keys cannot play one of her scheduled events and will have to make a change to her calendar.

The now 29-year-old has been on a long journey that started all the way back in 2009.

Madison Keys beats Alla Kudryavtseva at the Ponte Vedra Beach Championships in 2009

Keys made her WTA main tour debut at the Ponte Vedra Beach Championships in 2009, after receiving a wildcard for the event.

At just 14-years-old and 48 days, Keys was drawn against world number 81 Alla Kudryavtseva for her first round match at the Floridian tournament played on green clay.

The eighth grader took this opportunity with both hands and beat 21-year-old Kudryavtseva, 7-5 6-4, to secure her first WTA win.

While her opponent expressed her frustration, Keys looked beyond her years as she hit 20 winners and three unforced errors.

When speaking to the media after the match, Keys explained how she maintained her composure, “It doesn’t really matter what the other person is doing. I just have to focus on what I’m doing.”

Keys would go onto play top seed Nadia Petrova after her breakthrough win, where she would be knocked out in a competitive straight sets defeat.

The American would not play a WTA event again until 2011, the same year that she won her first Grand Slam match at the US Open.

While Kudryavtseva was on the wrong side of history on this occasion, she would go onto win one WTA singles title at the Tashkent Open and qualified for the WTA Finals doubles tournament in 2014.

Where does Madison Keys’ first WTA win rank in history?

With Keys being so young when she won her first WTA match, it was bound to be a historic moment in the tours history.

At 14-years-old and 48 days, Keys was the seventh youngest player to win a single WTA match.

While this may not seem that impressive, Keys was the youngest player to win a tour-level match since Martina Hingis in 1994.

Hingis’ first win also came in her home country two weeks after her 14th birthday, after receiving a wildcard at the Zurich Open, where she would beat Patty Fendick in the first round.

How old was Coco Gauff when she won her first WTA match?

Coco Gauff congratulated Keys after her Australian Open victory over Sabalenka, with the two American’s both arriving on the WTA Tour from an early age.

Gauff’s first WTA main draw appearance came on an even bigger stage than Keys’ at the 2019 Miami Open, shortly after her 15th birthday.

It was in this tournament where Gauff would beat Caty McNally in the first round, who would go onto become her doubles partner.

While Keys took a bit longer to become a mainstay on the WTA Tour, that same year Gauff went onto make her Grand Slam debuts and reach the fourth round of Wimbledon, third round of the US Open and won her first title in Linz.

What was said about Madison Keys after her first WTA win at 14-years-old?

Keys has recently spoken about the expectation she felt on her shoulders from as early as 11-years-old, when she first got told that she had what it takes to become a Grand Slam champion.

This is something that is echoed by the brother of Chris Evert, John Evert, who was the executive director and director of player development at the Evert Tennis Academy, where Keys trained and studied.

After Keys beat Kudryavtseva, John Evert suggested that this backed up the wildcard that some had criticized the tournament giving her.

“I think she for sure is on the radar now,” said Evert. “I think she was on the radar before this tournament, but I think this validates the wild card in her playing.

“She just turned 14 two months ago and there were some critics out there whether she should play a tournament of this size, whether she was ready. I think she proved today that she can compete with girls at this level.”

Since this moment, Keys has gone onto win 10 titles including the Miami Open, and most recently fulfilled her potential by becoming Grand Slam champion at the Australian Open.