Madison Keys will soon begin her Australian Open title defence, one year after capturing a maiden Grand Slam title at Melbourne Park.
Keys hoisted the famous trophy inside Rod Laver Arena last season following a remarkable campaign, during which she overcame both Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka.
The American began her 2026 season at the Brisbane International, where she claimed two wins to reach the quarterfinals.
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She lost in the last eight, however, falling to world number one Sabalenka in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.
Following her defeat, Keys said she had been struggling physically recently in Brisbane, but confirmed she will still feature at the Adelaide International next week, where she is the defending champion.
Madison Keys confirms her plans for next week in Australia
In her post-match press conference, she said: “There are some things today that I felt I was doing a little bit better than the last time we played last year, so definitely some things that improved, but still plenty of room for improvement.”
Keys took a medical timeout in her match with Diana Shnaider the day before, which she did not seem to be too concerned about.
“I think it’s just first matches back. Obviously played a very long match yesterday, so [the] body is just getting used to all of the tough matches again.”
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Her clash with Shnaider was a tough three-setter lasting nearly three hours and featuring a treble of tiebreaks.
“The match yesterday was obviously very difficult,” said Keys. “Overall, feeling pretty good just with how my body held up just to have such a tough match yesterday and be able to still come out and feel pretty good today.”
When asked if she will play at the Adelaide International, Keys simply replied: “Yep.”
Madison Keys says life has ‘not changed much’ since winning the Australian Open
Keys’ Australian Open triumph last year was the greatest feat of her career, but the 30-year-old revealed it has not really changed her day-to-day life.
She said: “Life hasn’t changed all that much. I think it’s been a bit different for me winning my first Grand Slam.
“It’s obviously happened much later in my career, and I have had a lot of success already, so I was, I think a pretty well-known name already.
“So I feel like it was much different than some of our most recent Grand Slam champions who have obviously had levels of success but haven’t been around for nearly as long.
“So I don’t think my life has changed all that much, but it’s definitely still a huge accomplishment that I’m very proud of.
“I think at this point in my career, had you told me last year that that was going to happen now, I don’t know if I’d believe you, but hopefully there is, you know, many more firsts to come.”
Keys set the record at last year’s Australian Open for the longest gap between two Grand Slam finals appearances by any woman in the Open Era, with her last coming at the 2017 US Open.
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