Madison Keys has admitted that her thoughts have now changed about her Australian Open victory one year later.
Keys won her first Grand Slam title in Melbourne last year, over seven years after she reached her first major final at the 2017 US Open.
As a result of her run to the title last year, Keys is receiving a lot more attention at the Australian Open this year as she attempts to defend a Grand Slam title for the first time.
Keys made a positive start to her Australian Open title defence, but she has now admitted that she looks back on her maiden major victory differently now.
Madison Keys reflects on her Australian Open victory one year later
As well as being a Grand Slam champion and top 10 player, Keys also co-hosts The Player’s Box Podcast alongside fellow American tennis players Jessica Pegula, Jennifer Brady and Desirae Krawczyk.
In the latest edition of the podcast, Keys spoke about her run to the Australian Open title and how she romanticized the whole thing when looking back.
However, when she actually dissected her run to the title, Keys admitted that it was actually very challenging and dramatic.
“I think it’s easy to look back and romanticize the whole thing, and you’re like ‘It was incredible the whole time’,” said Keys. “Meanwhile, I had an absolute battle late second round, three sets, barely scraped by, had like the toughest draw of all time, every day, I was like, ‘Oh my god, I have to play who now?’, had a match point down, lots of three set matches.
“It’s funny being back, realising, actually, it was really hard. There was lots of drama throughout the whole thing.”
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Keys made history at the Australian Open last year, becoming the oldest WTA player in history to beat the world number one and two in back-to-back matches in the semifinals and final of a Grand Slam.
Showcasing the drama that Keys was referring to, she even had to save a match point against Iga Swiatek in the semifinals, before beating defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in a three set final.
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Keys actually had to beat five seeded players in a row to win the Australian Open, needing victories over Elena Rybakina, Danielle Collins and Elina Svitolina to win her first major title.
While these were some of the standout names from her draw, it was actually world number 125 Elena-Gabriela Ruse who caused Keys some of her biggest issues in the second round.
| Australian Open 2025 | Madison Keys’ Opponent |
| First Round | Ann Li (No.84) |
| Second Round | Elena-Gabriela Ruse (No.125) |
| Third Round | Danielle Collins (No.11) |
| Fourth Round | Elena Rybakina (No.7) |
| Quarterfinal | Elina Svitolina (No.27) |
| Semifinal | Iga Swiatek (No.2) |
| Final | Aryna Sabalenka (No.1) |
Keys will be hoping to have less drama in her second round match at the Australian Open this year, as she takes on her fellow American Ashlyn Krueger.
This will be a first-time meeting between the two Americans, which will take place on John Cain Arena on Thursday, January 22.
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