Madison Keys was offered an update on the thigh injury she sustained in the Adelaide International final.
The 29-year-old took on her friend compatriot Jessica Pegula for the title, just a day before the Australian Open commences.
The pair put their friendship to one side and battled one another for the trophy, and Madison Keys came out on top in one hour and 43 minutes.
But there was a chance that injury would jeopardise Keys’ chance to win the title, which would have been a huge blow given the fitness issues she suffered at times in 2024.
Madison Keys comments on her fitness after Adelaide International final
When Keys is at her blistering best, she is very difficult to stop. That was the case during the first set when Keys blasted 10 winners to just three from Pegula, and broke her serve three times.
But things changed as Keys appeared to be hampered by an injury in set two, and went down 0-3 before calling a medical timeout. She left the court and returned with her thigh strapped, but Pegula went on to level the match.
Keys regrouped and stormed through the third set to claim a 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 win to beat Pegula for the second time in her career.
Post-match Keys credited the strapping for easing the pain to help her play free flowing and aggressive tennis to overpower her rival and friend.
“Luckily, with the magic of tape, things felt a little bit better, and I was able to get through the match,” Keys told reporters afterward.
“I think once the kind of immediate panic of, ‘oh no, something is happening,’ I think I finally relaxed and was able to refocus on the match.
“In some ways it just made me kind of go for it a little bit more, and go after things a little bit quicker, which luckily they were going in.”
Madison Keys set for new ranking after winning Adelaide International
On Saturday Keys won the Adelaide International for the second time in her career.
This was the ninth title of the American’s career and on Monday, she will return to the top 15 in the WTA rankings.
This will coincide with the Australian Open which begins Sunday, as Keys, who will start her campaign against Ann Li, tries to win her first Grand Slam title.
“I feel like there was a lot to build on after last year,” Keys said. “I felt like I was playing some pretty good tennis. I didn’t have the consistency that I wanted because I unfortunately had a few longer breaks due to injury.
“So, it was really just kind of an accumulation of taking all of the work that we did last year and all of that, and then having a really good off-season and just going for it.”
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