Madison Keys enjoyed one of her best-ever seasons on the WTA Tour in 2025, during which she won the Australian Open.
Keys clinched her maiden Grand Slam title at the 2025 Australian Open, beating two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in the final.
The fantastic success followed her 2017 US Open final defeat, when she was beaten by fellow American Sloane Stephens.
Australian Open champion Keys also triumphed in Adelaide last season, and currently boasts 10 WTA titles.
Keys is ninth in the WTA rankings as another Grand Slam approaches, with the 30-year-old out to defend her title in Melbourne.
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Her coach and husband rated her latest season during their time at the 2025 WTA Finals in Riyadh, where Bjorn Fratangelo told Reem Abulleil of her efforts post-Australia: “I think it was harder than I thought it was going to be.
“I think it put pressure on her, which I really wasn’t expecting because she is a little bit older. I think when you go from being kind of the child prodigy to the it girl, being young, making your first Slam final, I think she was 21.
“So I think doing all that, she had all the practice under her belt to deal with what comes. I just don’t think she… she wasn’t ready for how much it was going to be.
“And then I think it just tires you out after a while, all the off-court stuff, all the demands that she had, it just led to a little bit of a lull I think through the grass swing.
“I think being close at Roland Garros again, situationally playing that match with Coco [Gauff], losing that one close, but then knowing you would have played a wildcard in the semis to make maybe your second consecutive final.
“I think just situational scenarios kind of played into that loss, where it was like, what could be? You know, it could have been two in a row.
“And I think that kind of led to a little bit of a lull through the grass season. But I mean look, it’s a long year, you have to kind of take it in stride. Not every week is going to be your week, unless you’re really the top two men or women.
“But yeah I mean overall, look she’s here (Riyadh), so that is a body of work in itself, right? She didn’t win the Slam, and then she’s sitting at 15 in the world, like she is one of the best eight players in the world this season.
“So she’s here for an accumulation effect, not just because she won the major. So I think it goes to show also the length and all the good that she’s done this season as well.”
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Keys eventually withdrew during the WTA Finals, citing illness as her reason behind the exit ahead of her last group stage match.
She returned at the 2026 Brisbane International, reaching the quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion Sabalenka.
Sharing his thoughts on the player’s ideal mindset for Australia 2026 back in Riyadh, Fratangelo said of the defending champion: “I think just knowing, sort of talking about it maybe in December and knowing what you’re going to feel like once you get there.
“You know you’re going to be stressed, you know you’re going to be nervous, you know there’s a lot of points to defend, but try to find ways to either mitigate the stress or just know how to manage yourself when those stressful situations come.
“Because inevitably they’re coming. Every day you’re getting closer to what’s going to happen. So I think it’s more about Maddie being prepared and knowing how to handle what is going to come.
“Because I think she can kind of articulate what she’s going to feel like, it’s just now, how are you going to feel, or what are you going to do when those feelings come? And I think that’s the best things that she can do.”
Before the Australian Open arrives, the American is playing in Adelaide, taking on Tereza Valentova in her opening match.
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