Madison Keys Highlights Importance Of Therapy After Her Australian Open Triumph
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The 2025 Australian Open women's singles champion, Madison Keys, has named therapy as a critical reason for securing her first Grand Slam.
Although Keys entered the Australian Open with momentum after winning the Adelaide International, she was not considered among the favorites for the tournament before it began. Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, and Coco Gauff were rated as the most likely to triumph.
That made Keys' run at the season's opening Grand Slam even more incredible. She defeated the 2022 runner-up in Melbourne, Danielle Collins, former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, and saved a match point against four-time French Open winner Swiatek to reach the final.
Keys' victory in the final against the two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka was one of the most memorable women's finals in the event's history. A deciding 10-point tiebreak looked likely until Keys broke to win 6-3, 2-6, 7-5.
In a post-match press conference, the American gave a fascinating insight into her long journey to becoming a Grand Slam winner. Keys' other appearance in a Grand Slam final was at the 2017 US Open, where she lost heavily to her close friend Sloane Stephens.
This year's Australian Open champion has admitted that the pressure to win a Grand Slam used to weigh on her. Learning to be proud of her achievements was essential to Keys' personal development.
"I felt like from a pretty young age … if I never won a grand slam [tournament], then I wouldn't have lived up to what people thought I should have been. That was a pretty heavy burden to kind of carry around. So, I finally got to the point where I was proud of myself and proud of my career, with or without a Grand Slam."
Keys revealed she reached that point by going to therapy. The ten-time WTA title winner delved into uncomfortable areas with her therapist, but doing that made becoming a Grand Slam champion possible.
"To really start kind of digging in on how I felt about myself and really being honest with myself about it, it was really hard. I didn't really want to be the person that felt like I was really struggling, but I was starting to really struggle with it."
"So [it was about] being really honest and actually getting help and actually talking to someone, and not just about tennis but about how I felt about myself. Again, very uncomfortable. I never really like to be uncomfortable. I honestly think that had I not done that, then I wouldn't be sitting here."
The 29-year-old also discussed how nerves used to affect her. Keys did not play as well when nervous, and learning to balance those feelings while being ready to produce her best tennis was another significant factor in becoming the Australian Open winner.
"In the past, if I ever had nerves come up or something, I typically would not play as well. So it started getting to the point where when nerves came up, I was thinking, 'Oh, no, now I'm going to play badly.'"
"It would almost kind of start this internal panic. For whatever reason, it was kind of just like this light bulb moment where I started really buying into I can be nervous and I can still play good tennis."
