March 3, 2025 • 56 mins
Rennae talks to the woman behind everyone's favorite Grand Slam success story about learning to love the process in tennis, her decades-long journey on the tour and how a little therapy and playing brave pays off.
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
This podcast is supported by BNP Parbias as part of their
global commitment to tennis at all levels. BNP Parribas is
the world's leading tennis sponsor and the title sponsor of
the BNP Paribas Open.
Rennae Stubbs (00:34):
Hi, everybody, Welcome to the Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast. What
a treat I have for you all today, the one
and only now Grand Slam champion Madison Keys. If I
had a clapped thingy that I could afford, I would
have done that. But welcome my friend. Wow wow wow.
First of all, the first thing I want to say
(00:56):
to you is before the Australian Open started, Jessica Pegula
has told everybody this. I saw her in the player's
concierge at the Australian Open, and I walked up and
I said, hey girl, great week last week, you know,
way to make it through the finals.
Madison Keys (01:12):
Good start to the year.
Rennae Stubbs (01:12):
And she goes, Rennae, if Madison plays anything like she
did against me in the third set, she's winning this tournament.
And I was like, okay, that's some pretty high praise
from you. Sure enough, she was right. So I'm just
gonna give Jess all the credit here. No none to you.
Madison Keys (01:28):
She texted me after a match. I mean we traveled
together as well, but she texted me like, I got
this long message as we're like meeting at each other
at the airport, and she was like, no, you don't understand.
You're playing unreal. Like She's like no, no, no, but
but you don't get it. It's like unreal tennis. Like
just just do that again, Like I can't. She's like,
(01:50):
I'm not even like sad that I last, because like
that was insane.
Rennae Stubbs (01:56):
I mean, you know, I've got so many questions when
I ask you, but did that did that resonate in
you at all? Like hearing it from someone who knows
you so well, also knows how you can play, but
also as being in the latter part of grand slams,
particularly the last one at the US Open.
Madison Keys (02:12):
I mean, yes and no. I think it's one of
those things where I definitely felt like I was playing
really well. I feel like I almost played better in
Adelaide than I did in Melbourne. I was playing just
unreal tennis. Everything just kind of was coming together really
easily and just kind of worked my way through the
draw fairly simply. But you know, those weeks where you
(02:34):
kind of are just like, yeah, like this is just
kind of my week. So it was just one of
those things where I was like thanks, like, yeah, I've
been working hard, but like it was a good week.
But it's funny. After I won, she was like, I
feel like I'm very happy for you, but I feel
she was like, I feel like everyone else is just
catching up to where I've been for two weeks. So
(02:55):
she's like, I'm not surprised. I'm not like I just
expected this to happen.
Rennae Stubbs (03:00):
Yeah. I will give Casey Dellacqua a lot of credit
to because she picked you as well because she saw
you play a lot in Adelaide. So before we get
to the match and all of the things that I
want to talk to you about, what's the last few
weeks been like for you? And I just want you
to tell people what the moments were like, as in
the hours after you won the tournament, like what are
(03:23):
the things that people have no idea? Yeah, it looks
all glamorous, you get this big check, you get a trophy,
and they think you just walk away. Nah, can you
tell people what you've what you had to do immediately
after the match and then subsequently after.
Madison Keys (03:34):
That, Yeah, it's been it's been kind of crazy, and
even being a player, I had no idea like the
hours that go into it. Immediately from the court I
went and I did. I think we did like six
live TV interviews all in a row, hadn't even showered yet,
(03:58):
had no food. Literally at I was like, I'm so thirsty,
Like I haven't had a drink of water. It's been
like an hour. So did that, and then finally had
like twenty minutes, had drug testing that I had to do. Yeah, yeah,
finally took a shower, shoveled food in my face because
(04:19):
I was like, oh, I'm already late, and then probably
did another like two hours of media. So I think
we got back to the hotel at almost three. It
was like two thirty. And of course then I'm like
I can't sleep, so I don't think. I don't think
I even partially fell asleep until like five am, and
(04:43):
then I think it was like eight o'clock. I had
to wake up in the morning and had like more media,
more stuff, did that for the morning, and then finally
around like I think it was probably around noon or
one o'clock, we were finally like done for the day.
And then I had to pack. I was just a zombie.
I was like so happy, but also it was like
(05:04):
I hadn't even taken a breath and absorbed anything that happened.
And then we had to fly. We flew back to
the States. I went to New York. I had like
an entire day of press in New York. Got back
like Tuesday night, I think, got back to Florida Tuesday night,
and before the season had even started, we had agreed
(05:26):
to do. One of the commitments that I had to
do was for like that Wednesday. So I literally landed
and had to go back in and do more stuff
the next day. And then it's like the just kind
of the follow up, last minute interviews and everything, and
I think it was probably I think it was like
Thursday night, and I finally said to my agent. I
(05:48):
was like, I'm done, Like I can't. I'm gonna put
my phone in a drawer. I can't talk, Like I'm
I cannot talk to anyone else. I can't be on
my phone. It's going in a drawer. If anyone needs me,
caled Yarn, I will talk to everyone on Monday.
Rennae Stubbs (06:05):
Yeah, So I don't I really wanted you to tell
people that because I want people to understand what it's
like to you know, and I'm sure you have such
respect now for people that do this all the time,
that have won, you know ten twenty plus Grand Slams.
It's like, this is the way it is, and clearly
they're used to it, so they know what's coming. But
I wanted people to understand that it's not just all
(06:27):
these roses. It's a lot of work, you know, and
you can't say no to that kind of thing. So
I want to know. There's moments like I'm not putting
myself any even remotely close to winning a singles Grand Slam.
But I remember first time I won a Grand Slam,
and I got into the shower after the match, and
it was the first time I felt like I was alone.
Was there a moment where you were alone where it
(06:49):
all hit you that you had just won.
Madison Keys (06:55):
I think it was probably like it was kind of
after all of the interviews and everything were done, because
it felt like I was finally able to sit with
my own thoughts. And I think I was just kind
of like sitting at home and going through like just
the normal routine of you're back home, you're making coffee
(07:17):
or whatever. And I think this was back in Florida.
It was like days later. It was like days later,
and I finally just sat there. I was like, holy crap,
I did that. Like that actually it actually happened, And
and it's it's a it's a weird thing when something
(07:39):
that you've been like dreaming of and working towards since
you were a little kid and then you finally do it,
the like mental and emotional shift that happens where you're like, wait,
I actually did it, yeah, and then you kind of
were sitting there and you go, wait, what do I
do now? Like, oh wait, like what's next? Like I've
(08:02):
I've spent almost thirty years of my life essentially like
working towards this thing, and it's always felt like it was,
you know, just a little bit far away and like
I had to still keep working for it, and then
I did it, and now I have to like totally,
I feel like I'm like shifting as a person. Yeah,
(08:23):
And it's I think it's also weird because it's like
I think when when it's still a dream and it's
still a goal, you kind of have like all these
bows and rainbows around it and you're like it's going
to be the greatest moment of my entire life, and
then it happens and you're like, Okay, that was really
really great and I really loved it and I'd love
(08:44):
to do that again. But also, that's not really what
I thought it was going to be, Like.
Rennae Stubbs (08:51):
Yeah, that's interesting in what way? In what way? Like
it is it because you're like, oh, well, what's next.
Madison Keys (09:00):
I think there's a little bit of that, And part
of that, actually, as a tennis player, kind of annoys
me that that's like the first thought because every other
sport they have like their thing and then they have
all this off time and they get to enjoy it,
and for us it's like, oh, there's another tournament two
days later.
Rennae Stubbs (09:19):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. They don't have an office like four months.
Madison Keys (09:23):
No. So I think that's part of it. But I
think the other thing was I think for a really
long time for me, I had this kind of thought
around winning a Grand Slam and what it would mean
and what it would do, and I think in my
brain it was like it would be like this life changing,
(09:44):
insane thing that I finally felt validated in all this,
and then I think I finally got to the point
in my career where I was like, Okay, I don't
really need to win a Grand Slam to feel like
I've achieved a lot in my career. So I think
I kind of stopped thinking about what it would be like,
(10:04):
and then it kind of just all happened in my
brain quickly, and so it was just kind of it
just it was like my brain had to actually get
on track with like everything that had happened so quickly.
Rennae Stubbs (10:20):
So I always talk about I've talked about many times
on my podcast or just in general terms, and I
always talk about the subconscious and conscious minds, And so
for me, it's like your conscious mind is always has
always said to you, you're good enough to win this,
and yes, you know, when you made your first Grand
Slam final, You're like, yeah, I'm going to win this match.
But there's this little, tiny, little tiny Madison Keys in
(10:42):
the back of the This is how I describe it.
It's like the little one that's in the back of
the mind going no, you're not, You're really not You're
really not, You're really not ready. Idon't know if you're
good enough. Is it a little bit like you talked
about already, You've always said you felt like was maybe
a little bit an attainable thing. You weren't quite sure
if you could get there, so well, I want to
know then, like after Adelaide and going into the Aussie
(11:04):
and having an extraordinarily bad, tough draw like you had
the you had arguably the hardest draw in the tournament,
which maybe was a good thing for you. I don't know,
but do you was when you played, particularly the Semis
and the final against arguably the two best players in
the world, were your subconscious and conscious minds a little
(11:25):
bit more aligned, better than they've ever been, Like, was
that little madisone sort of being shut down a little
bit more?
Madison Keys (11:35):
I think I think there was definitely there's I mean,
I think there was still moments of doubt, I think,
but I think that's the one thing that I'm kind
of coming to terms with is that there's always going
to be doubt. It's it's a normal reaction feeling. It's
(11:56):
just life. You're never going to go through life and
say I'm one hundred percent confident all of the time.
It's just it's not possible.
Rennae Stubbs (12:03):
So I think not having the negative reaction towards doubt
and and wasting energy and time being mad at myself
for having doubt and just and almost like fighting against
it and saying, well, no, I.
Madison Keys (12:23):
Don't think that, like that's not true. I know I
am confident, and instead saying like, okay, like that's a
fine feeling to have, but like you can have that
feeling and you can also still win this match, so
like it doesn't have to be you don't have to
be one hundred percent. I'm gonna win this and everything
is gonna be perfect. So I think that's that was
(12:44):
a big shift for me. That helped a lot, just
kind of knowing even throughout a match, there's gonna be
ebbs and flows, and there's gonna be times when you're
super locked in, and then there's gonna be times when
you kind of get lost in the clouds. And I
think the reason that the top players are so good
is because when they do get lost in the clouds,
(13:06):
they come back so quickly and without judgment. So I
think that's kind of where I've gotten a lot better,
just kind of being able to refocus and not have
the judgment around the negative thoughts or things or doubts
that pop up in my head and wasting time on
(13:27):
being annoyed at myself for having them.
Rennae Stubbs (13:31):
Yeah, so how much is you know? I love so
much that you talked about going to regular therapy and
not a sports psychologist, which a lot of people do.
And I'm a really big believer in. It's probably your
actual self that's the problem here, you know what I mean.
It's not necessarily how you react in a certain point,
it's how you perceive yourself. So even the way you've
(13:54):
just talked, now you know how much did actually just
going in to actual regular therapy and you're happy in
your life. It's not like you were fighting with your
boyfriend at the time and like you were going in
and I need to fix my or maybe you were,
I don't know, but like I'm pretty sure you weren't,
but I haven't hear we were crying. Pretty sure, I'd
beyond be hard to argue with. But but like, who
(14:16):
was the catalyst that said how about this? Or was
that all you? And I got to give Petko a
lot Andrea Petkovic a lot of credit because we were
talking about you know, your racket and beyond and the
service motion and all the things which we might get to.
But Petko's like, yeah, but she's the one that made
that decision. She's the one that decided to go to therapy,
so I want to know how that came about.
(14:41):
So it was it was kind of funny. I definitely
went originally and like sit down and I was like,
I want to make ten ofs better and I want
to be good and I want to have fun on
the court. And she was like okay, and then she
asked me one question about my life and I just
(15:01):
started like sobbing, and she was like, do we think
maybe this isn't just about tennis? And I was like, oh,
maybe you're onto something. But I was just to a point,
and I think I think the reason that a lot
of things are highlighted in tennis is because it's I mean,
(15:23):
it's high stress. You're out there by yourself. I mean,
it's just if you have anything going on, you put
yourself in tennis and it's just a pressure cooker. So
everything just feels amplified. And I think off of the court,
it's a lot easier to hide from any sort of
things that you're trying to ignore. Yeah, and then on
(15:44):
a tennis court, it's you double halt on breakpoint at
five all in the third and you're ready to just
completely lose your marbles. So I think for me, I
definitely started in the thought of, like, I just want
to make tennis better. My life is great, I'm fine,
I feel great about myself. I just you know, get
(16:07):
really more of us storing Kinnis matches. But I was
I was really struggling with my relationship with tennis, and
that's kind of a hard place to be when it's
not only your job, but your job basically consumes ninety
five percent of your life. And it was really kind
(16:30):
of starting to bleed over into my personal life. And
I think at the core of it, it was just
how I felt about myself, yeap. And I think that's
the tricky part about I mean about just deeply caring
(16:50):
about your career path and what you are very passionate about,
is it's hard to separate the two things. So when
you feel some way about something that you're doing, it
kind of it's all just one. So I was starting
to kind of just really struggle just overall. And I
(17:14):
would say that it was it was just kind of
starting to become a little bit more apparent to a
lot of people that hey, I think maybe you need
to go talk to someone, and it's obviously more obvious
on a tennis court. So it started with maybe it'll
help the tennis and all that, and then from there
it was really, you know, Okay, I think I need
(17:37):
to like work on some of my own beliefs that
have kind of started to become pretty deep inside.
Yeah. I mean, honestly, I think it's such a phenomenal
thing that you're talking about it so openly, because I
think you'll hope so many people realize that, you know,
there's so much, especially someone as good as you, you know,
(17:59):
you cannot not help. But hear people say, but Madison's
so good, she hits the ball bigger than everybody. She
should be winning these matches. And at some point it
has to start, You have to. I would imagine you
would start thinking, well, why the fuck am I not
winning these matches? You know what I mean, And then
it starts to chip away at you just as a
human being. You know, you're just like, well, I'm just
(18:19):
not good enough, I guess you know. So I'm so
proud of you for doing that, because that's a huge
step to be able to go in and like dig
really deep into into your own life. So you know,
before we get back to the match, I want to
know quickly, who was the first phone call that you
made after you won? Because I mean, the people that
you love so much that have been in your corner,
(18:41):
you know, Kayla and Richard and beyond, they were there immediately,
you know, in tears and it was amazing. But who
was the first phone call you made?
Madison Keys (18:49):
I called my mom?
Rennae Stubbs (18:51):
Yeah, what was her reaction?
Madison Keys (18:57):
Honestly, it's funny. It's a lot of swear words, I
love you tears, followed by I'm so proud of you.
I mean, you could do it. I mean just it
was just it was funny. It was funny then, and
I was like, I am I am my mother's child.
Rennae Stubbs (19:14):
You are definitely definitely, oh mean, I love that. I
figured it would be your mom. But you never know,
you know, Max might want you to call him first
for some reason.
Madison Keys (19:23):
But you know, no, he was he was mess. He
was like, you can't call me. I'm still weeping, Like
I can't, I can't talk to you for a few
days because I'm just gonna just weep.
Rennae Stubbs (19:34):
Have you watched the match?
Madison Keys (19:36):
Since I've watched some highlights, I have watched match.
Rennae Stubbs (19:42):
Just so you know, I've watched the match three times.
I swear to god, I've watched it three times. It
was such a good tennis match.
Madison Keys (19:49):
But anyway going, I've watched some highlights, but I haven't
actually sat there and just like watched it. Fully. Yeah,
there's definitely there are some highlights, and I feel like
there's a few points that are just like.
Rennae Stubbs (20:05):
On replay, which tell me which ones?
Madison Keys (20:10):
Honestly, the one that I still cannot believe was five
all thirty all in the third. The return, and I
have no idea, but I remember just even like how
I reacted after I made it, did you like fun?
I was like, oh, that was a big point.
Rennae Stubbs (20:32):
Well, I have to say to you you know, clearly
I was doing the coverage court side and Mary Joe Fernandez,
I believe, I'm not sure one hundred percent sure, but
I'm fairly certain she said, just deadpan, just went that
is the shot of the tournament, or it might be
in the match. It was like, you couldn't say anything
other than that because you were on the edge of
that precipice there, right, and you know, we all know
(20:56):
we can all talk about the US Open match, and
they were so similar the match with Sebolenka, like you
won the first set seeks love, and I was thinking,
did you think about losing a game in the first
set at the Australian Open, just so you didn't do
the same thing.
Madison Keys (21:10):
You know. It's funny. I didn't even think of the
match at the US Open at all. Well, didn't even
popp into my head.
Rennae Stubbs (21:18):
That is remarkable because I just getting ready to talk
to you today I saw of you know, I was
wanted to go back and watch that match because I
did the match, but I couldn't really remember. I know,
you're up a set in five to three, but I
have to say Sabalenka played off her trait from a
set in five to three.
Madison Keys (21:32):
So I mean she played well and I think she
played so well. And I think the thing that going
into this final I kept saying to myself was she
played brave. She went after her shot, she didn't back up,
she went after everything. And I really wanted to make
(21:52):
sure that I did that this match because I felt
like at the US Open, I let my foot off
the gas pedal one hundred and gave her more opportunities
than she already is capable of creating by herself.
Rennae Stubbs (22:06):
I actually wrote down here five three, fifteen thirty lazy legs. Yeah,
because you at fifteen thirty went had a chance to
maybe win the match at five to three in the
second set. You had a ball that was kind of
like mid range. It was like one of those ones
you could have got around and hit your beforehand, and
you chose to hit a backhand and you missed it.
And I remember thinking, if that was the stray and
(22:28):
Open this year, you would have absolutely got around and
crushed an inside out for hand, which you did on
match point. So I think that's the difference, and that's
an interesting so you can learn from your losses and
you do. What was the conversation with Bjorn after the
first set? I saw you go over. You had a
(22:50):
bit of a laugh. Actually she went off the court,
I think, and I think he might have been given
you a bit of crap about your slice backhand because
you went into a little bit of negative slice back
and maybe it was after the second set, but you guys, like,
what was the conversation that you were primary? That was
the primary thing that he was trying to get across
to you most of the time, particularly at the end.
Madison Keys (23:10):
I think it was really just trying to get on
the offense before she did, and I think that that
was kind of the key, and I think the biggest
thing in the second set. I thought she started doing
a really great job of mixing things up. She started
using her drop shot so well. And I think I
(23:32):
don't even really remember what exactly we were talking about,
but it was really just trying to try to stay
on offense so that she can't do that as much,
and just keep trying to stay close in the match
and then just try to sink your teeth into it.
And I remember before we switched sides, he kind of
(23:54):
just said, like, it's fine, like you're going into a
tiebreaker if you lose this game, Like go after some
of the turns a little bit, just because I was
kind of making some but they weren't good enough that
she was usually either hitting a winner or getting on
offense on her first ball. So he was like, fine,
just like go after a little bit more like take
a step back and take full cuts.
Rennae Stubbs (24:15):
Yeah. I looked at the stats today of the match,
(24:47):
and you hit two return winners in the entire match.
And you hit one in the third set and it
was the love fifteen and I was sitting next to
as you know, Laura Robson, who's one of your best friends,
and I hit her on the arm and I was like,
holy shit, she she's gonna win this match. And it
(25:08):
was just like, I want you to talk a little
bit about I always talk about the slope at this
train Open. There's a little bit of a slope, the
downhill slope from the President's end down. How much did
that help, like in the last game, because in the
game before you gestured to be on because he wanted
you to step up on the return and you said,
I can't. I don't know exact words, but you are
(25:30):
basically like. I can't really do it. Tell people how
at home, how the slope is a little bit difficult
at this train Open, and how being down one end
to the other is very difficult on return, and so well,
I think.
Madison Keys (25:43):
It's a little bit of the slope. And it's also
if there's any sort of breeze. It always comes from
the end.
Rennae Stubbs (25:49):
It's not in my opinion, it's not super typical, especially
on a big stadium, for it to be from one
baseline to the other. You usually have some sort of crosswind,
but this one is pretty strong from directly behind you.
So I think that along with the slope that one
side is it's easier to return and it's harder to serve.
Madison Keys (26:13):
Oh it's not of the serve with the wind and
the slope.
Rennae Stubbs (26:16):
No. No, if you're on the other side, and I'm
saying if the wind is behind you or the wind
is in front of you, when the wind is in
your face and you're serving uphill, you can feel you
can feel the difference, and you kind of feel like
you're It's like, okay, usually my serve is like supposed
to help me, and all of a sudden, I feel
like I'm like behind somehow. So I think I kind
(26:40):
of I kind of knew that was there, and I
I just kind of was like, Okay, well, I'm just
gonna try to go a little bit extra on these,
just because at least the wind's not going to be
pushing it into me. Yeah, And for I mean, for
whatever reason, I just was like way more locked in
(27:01):
that game. Yeah, I mean it was so impressive, But
take me to the match point. When you got to
match point fifteen forty, which is a little bit of
a buffer, but also at the same time, it's kind
of like it almost makes you more nervous because you're like,
oh my god, I've. Got to You're like, oh my god,
if I lose this one, it's forty thirty, and then
if I lose that one, then it's duece. We hate
(27:22):
to tell people, but that is exactly what goes through
the mind. So what went through your mind at fifteen
forty because you played a phenomenal point to get to fifteen forty,
you got a couple of balls back that maybe people
thought you weren't going to get back, you speedy little devil.
Madison Keys (27:37):
I think at forty fifteen it was just I just
kind of kept thinking, like, she's probably gonna hit a
great serve because I feel like whenever you back her
into a corner is when she plays her best. So
it was, you know, just expect it. Obviously hit a
great serve, couldn't do anything about it, walked over to
(27:57):
the other side, and I think all I really said
to myself before the point was just try to have
a good like deep middle return, just to try to
be neutral, like I just don't want to be on
defense right away. And I did and I think I
actually hit it better than I thought. And the first
(28:18):
ball came in the first forehand I hit, I didn't
hit it clean and I wanted it to go more
off the court and it went up the middle and
I remember thinking, oh shit, like she might do something
with that. And then she did it and it kind
of came back to me and I was like, well,
it's sour and never you might as well just go
for it.
Rennae Stubbs (28:37):
So really, that's when the ball came back to you.
You were a little bit sort of semi surprised at
old shit, she didn't do something with a lesser shot
of mules, and you said, fuck it, I'm going for it.
Madison Keys (28:47):
Yeah, because I really wanted to. I mean, the whole
point in the whole game plan for the match was
to try to be on offense as quickly as possible.
So as I kind of mishit it, I was a
little annoy at myself because I was like, I should
have done something better with the ball that I got. Yeah,
And so the ball that came back, I was like, Okay,
(29:09):
I can definitely do something with this, and I don't.
I want to make sure I do more in the
ball that I just hit or else. I'm definitely not
getting another opportunity.
Rennae Stubbs (29:20):
When it came off your racquet, did you know as
a stride winner because she was leaning for.
Madison Keys (29:25):
No. I think I was still like creating for something
to come back, because I feel like it is funny.
I feel like watching the replays and watching the highlights,
it's like it takes me a second to actually be like,
oh shit, I did win. It's over.
Rennae Stubbs (29:44):
You know, there were crazy stats in the third sit,
and I wrote a couple of them down and I
have no idea if you looked at the stats, probably not,
But you were getting crushed on your second serve in
the third set, and she was winning eighty two percent
on her second serve and you were winning fifty four percent.
(30:04):
She only won sixty eight percent of her first serf
and you won eighty five. So the difference with her
hitting first serfs, you were actually better off hitting her
first serf. Is that not a crazy stat? In the
third set?
Madison Keys (30:17):
That is kind of crazy. Yeah.
Rennae Stubbs (30:19):
I couldn't believe that stat when I saw it. And
you guys, there was one point that separated you in
the match and one point that separated you in the
third set. That's how close the match was overall.
Madison Keys (30:30):
I mean it was I felt like it was one
of those matches where her level wasn't amazing at the start.
Mine was pretty good, and I think she really raised
her level in the second set, and I hadn't quite
cut up yet, and then I felt like the third
set was just dogfight, really high level tennis on bull sides.
Rennae Stubbs (30:48):
No, it was incredible third set, which is why I
think it's so fascinating that you didn't think about the
US Open because they were so similar in so many
ways other than the fact that you were well ahead
at the US Open, I felt like there was so
when I've watched it since, there was very similar. So
I'm pretty impressed that you didn't think about the US
Open in that match is probably what helped you get
(31:10):
through it, to be quite honest, is that you didn't
think about it. So after you when you know, there's
this tears, it's just such a great moment. Everybody, so
many people were so happy for you, Madi, including me.
I mean, there was a lot of tears. Mary Joe
Fernandez was having a hard time in the in the booth,
I was having a hard time. I was trying to
get through my last little bit about you. The thing
(31:32):
that impressed me the most is that you won that match.
She did not lose. That you won that match, which
is such a great feeling. But also talking about what everybody,
what you said about what you had to do in
the days after, is why I'm so happy that you
didn't go to the Middle East. What discussion was that,
Like with Beyond, I had a discussion with him actually
when I saw him that night, and I was like
(31:53):
don't let her go to the Middle East. I was like,
because one thing Sam Stosur said after the match, I
did a recap with her on my podcast and she said,
the one regret I have after winning the ucycle was
going to Asia because I didn't give myself the time
to take it all in and enjoy it. So what
was the reasoning behind not going to the Middle East
and what's the thought process now going into Indian wells?
Madison Keys (32:16):
Well, there was a lot of back and forth on it,
and I had obviously, I mean I obviously played the
whole tournament with my leg taped up as well, which
it wasn't ever really a hindrance, but it was also
still something that I was like, it's obviously not one
hundred percent, so that was obviously also part of it,
(32:40):
was also a factor in it, but it was I
think by the time I got home and had actually
like finally had just a day at home where I
didn't have to do anything, I think I would have
had to have got I think it was like eight
or eight days, and I was gonna have to travel again. Yeah,
(33:03):
And obviously the flight home is it's over. It's over.
It's like a twenty eight hour day of travel, and
so I was thinking, Okay, eight days later, I'm gonna
have to do another twenty hour plus travel day play
two weeks, fly all the way to the last coast,
(33:25):
so then go to the east coast, and then you
have a few weeks and then you go back to Europe.
And I just I was like, Okay, there's no way
I can get on a plane in eight days. Yeah,
and I just I'm still I was so even the
week that I started hitting. I think I started hitting
(33:46):
like the Monday after we got home, so I had
four or five days off, and even then I was
still exhausted, just mentally, emotionally, just so tired, and I
kept kind of thinking like maybe we still just do Dubai.
But then it's also like it's so far for one tournament,
(34:08):
and it just it was just kind of like the
pros and cons of do you go all that way,
maybe have a good tournament, maybe not, And it just
it felt so rushed, and I still it took me
like a full week of practice to finally feel like
I was back to myself. And so I was like,
(34:28):
why am I going to go put myself in a
bad situation where I'm finally feeling better on the court,
I'm finally feeling like myself again. Why am I going
to try to like rush and put myself in this
situation where I don't feel ready because I'm not. I
haven't had enough time to fully recover. Why why would
(34:49):
I do that to myself?
Rennae Stubbs (34:52):
I think that's called maturity, and I think, and I'm
serious when I tell you this, Like it was the
one thing that Sam said in the pod. She's like,
I hope she doesn't I said, I have a feeling
she probably won't go, but he goes. I hope she
doesn't go because it's the one regret that I have
because it's so overwhelming what you've just gone through and
you have to take it in right. And one of
(35:14):
the things that Sam said is you also have to
always remember just because you won the ustrae and Open,
or in Sam's case, the US Open, doesn't mean you're
going to win the next match, you know, so you
have to be willing to be prepared to, you know,
go through the hard work again and deal with that because,
as you already pointed out, tennis is really hard. You
don't have an off season to enjoy this big win.
(35:36):
So how has everything been like preparing now and getting
yourself ready for an Indian Wells? Where do you feel
like you are emotionally and mentally?
Madison Keys (35:46):
I feel like it's it's been a good amount of
time for me to be back on court, and I
feel like, I mean, like I said, it felt like
it took seven to ten days to finally find my
feet again. And I think the other thing that's really
funny is I'm sure Sam experienced as well as now,
(36:07):
all of a sudden you're dealing with your own expectations
all of a sudden dramatically changing. So what But I
think I've had to be really honest with myself and
know that that's going to be something that I'm going
to have to work through because it's a totally normal
(36:29):
thing to happen. But it's also like no one really
thrives when you're going out and thinking like I have
to win everything now. So I think that's going to
be I mean, that's going to be my new challenge.
And obviously it's it's a really good place to obviously
be in to have to like learn how to deal
(36:50):
with that pressure because it means that you've done some
really big things. But it's definitely something new that I'm
going to have to figure out how to whether the
storm that I'm creating.
Rennae Stubbs (37:03):
Especially like, yeah, especially in the US.
Madison Keys (37:06):
And I think that's It's also been a good amount
of time for me to get to the point of
realization because at first I was like, yeah, no, I'm
totally cool, Like I'm just gonna think this exact same
way and everything will be fine. And I was like, Okay, well,
you're lying to yourself. So once we get to the
point of like honesty, then we can move forward and
(37:27):
we can work that way.
Rennae Stubbs (37:30):
So have you been back to your therapist?
Madison Keys (37:33):
Multiple times?
Rennae Stubbs (37:35):
Okay, so great, I'm glad you said that. What was
the first conversation. What was what was the first like
one two minutes, like when you walked in the door
to see her or him.
Madison Keys (37:46):
Just like immediately tears. I was like, I'm so happy,
I'm so happy. But then it was it was really
good because even after my match, I got the assign
to do a lot of writing and just make sure
that you put all of it out there and really
kind of live in all of the moments. And there
(38:09):
was definitely a little bit like I had already kind
of gone into okay, but what next? And she was
very quick to be like, hmm, let's like, let's let's
take this win. Let's like live in the wind a
little bit longer. Yeah, just to just really like just
appreciate it. It's just like you work so hard for it.
(38:33):
It's it would be such a shame to not actually
enjoy it and just immediately shift into Okay, there's a
new tournament next week, like gotta go do that.
Rennae Stubbs (38:44):
Does it get to be a little bit more like
exciting what you now know that you're capable of doing
under the most incredible duress. I mean, as I said,
you know, for people that don't know your drawl was
insane and you beat some of the best, if not
arguably the best players in the world are at the
Grand Slam. You know, you beat Eager, you beat Rybakina,
(39:05):
you beat Sabalenka. It's like you beat Switzerland, who's been
there a million times. Like you beat Danielle Collins, Like
you beat so many people in that tournament that know
what it's like to be deep into a Grand Slam
and to win them. I also now know watch out
(39:27):
people because Madison knows now how to win the big matches.
And so how much does that actually excite you going forward?
Madison Keys (39:36):
It's been really exciting, and I think that I think
I feel really grounded as well. I think I have
a really have just some of the best people around me,
and it's probably the most honest that I've been just
(39:56):
where I'm at and what's going on in my brain.
And I feel like they have helped me navigate so
many moments. And even before before I played Iga in
the Semis, my fitness trainer just looked at me and said,
you know that, like you're worthy of this, like you
(40:17):
can do it, and just like immediate tears. And then
he made me say it back to him and I
was like I can't, Like I actually can't say it,
and he's like, no, no, no, like you're gonna say it.
And it's I mean, it's it's little things like that
that I don't think people like saying that. I don't
think people really understand like how much of an impact
(40:40):
that makes. Yeah, but it makes a huge impact. And
it's just that little bit that you know deep in
the third that you have something to hang on to.
So I think I'm really excited about obviously what I
can do, but I think I'm more excited just with
the people that are around me and getting to have,
you know, hopefully a really good season, but just I mean,
(41:04):
I've just been so happy to be at this point
in my career and have the people that I have.
It's just it's honestly just kind of like icing on
the cake.
Rennae Stubbs (41:16):
I think that's why we saw all the tears from
your team. We knew we were going to get tears
from beyond, but to see Kaylor, to see Richard like
just to see them because they know how much and
we know we see you guys together all the time.
We know what you guys have been through, and particularly
with your ill you know your injuries and everything that
you've had. I mean Wimbledon last year, I thought you
(41:36):
were playing unbelievable. But does that give you a lot
of hope knowing that if physically you can stand up
to it now mentally you know you can. How much
does that help you? Because I can tell you I've
said this to people. I'm not putting any pressure on you,
but you are good enough to win every single Grand
Slam because you can play on every surface. So you
know not to put pressure on you know, not to
(41:58):
do it to yourself, but you know, I want you
to feel that way like when you go into those
slams now, that's where your head should be. You are
worthy of that. Do you feel that?
Madison Keys (42:08):
Yeah, well that I definitely feel like I've It's kind
of like it's like, Okay, you finally you finally knock
the wall down that you had been struggling against. And
I think now it's such a it's such a exciting
(42:28):
place to be because you know how you knock the
wall down and you know that you can. You have
people also there that can help support you through that,
and I think there's just I mean, there's so many
weeks of the year that you can that we can
do really, you know, great things. And I feel like
(42:48):
it's I feel like I'm finally like probably the most
me and the most connected to myself that I've ever been. Yeah,
and I feel like that's how me just so much
on the court.
Rennae Stubbs (43:03):
So I didn't ask you. I asked you about the
first moment where you had by yourself where you like
sunk in. But was there a moment when you were
like with beyond I don't know, lying in bed or
waking up in the morning and you just looked at
each other and went, oh, my fucking god, we did it.
Madison Keys (43:20):
I think it was that moment actually happened pretty quickly.
But we got back to the room and it was
like literally like almost three am, both so delirious and tired,
but just I'm cloud dying and he just looked at
me and he was like, holy shit, like you just
you just won the Australian Oup. It like that that
(43:43):
actually happened. I know, it's crazy, but it's been really
cool too. I mean, I think it's it's fairly rare
in the sport to be able to have your significant
other when you win the big moments, but to really
like do it together. Yeah, it's been. I mean it's
(44:06):
it's honestly one of the coolest things.
Rennae Stubbs (44:09):
Yeah, I mean, we know we've talked about the service change, which,
by the way, I thought you should have done years
ago as well, just so I was like, why doesn't
she step up on a serve? I don't get it.
You're serving the ball so much harder now. You hit
zero double faults in the final zero, which is unbelievable
considering I know that you were struggling a little bit
with getting the timing on the second serve because it
felt a little bit different. But that also shows to
(44:32):
people at home, like it doesn't matter how old you are,
you know, and relatively you're still so young, but at
thirty you kind of like, well, I've been playing professional
tennis now for fifteen years, Like really, I'm going to
change my service motion and I changed my racket, I'm
going to change all my strings, like this is crazy.
But also it shows you and Petko said, that also
shows how gutsy you were to do that, because there's
been some people that have changed rackets and changed this
(44:53):
and changed that, and they've gone downhill real fast.
You know. I think about Radwanska when she changed the racket.
She couldn't win a match after that. So it's like
that was gutsy of you and the belief and the
trust that you obviously have and beyond and his just
his tennis nerdy brain. It's just awesome to see. I
just like him, so I love him so much. Who
was the coolest person that reached out to you the
(45:17):
text or the call and you were like.
Madison Keys (45:21):
Little Wayne DMed me. We had like a back and
forth which was very funny, but it was funny. I
was making breakfast one morning and I got a phone
call and I didn't have the number saved, and I
was I just answered. I don't know why, but I
was like hello, and she's like, Madi, it's Kim. I
(45:44):
was like she's like, yeah, it's Kim. And I was like,
oh my god, thanks Kim talking about yes And it
meant the world to me because after I lost in
after I lost you an open final, I saw her
right after the match and she gave me the biggest
hug and the biggest kiss on the cheek and said
(46:05):
it's okay. I've been there, You're gonna do it like
it'll be okay, I promise. But I mean it just
was like so full circle that that was probably my favorite.
Rennae Stubbs (46:18):
I think that's so interesting because everyone thinks, oh, you
know this person or that person, but it just shows
you that you go back to being a little kid,
right And you know, Kim Clijsters was like your idol
and you played so you played so similarly to her.
She just wishes she had yourself. But anyway, all right,
I'm gonna ask you just a couple more questions. Is
You've been so great to spend a lot of time,
but I did put out a question to social media
(46:40):
and I wanted, you know, my listeners to like throw
in some questions to you, and one of them was
how do you balance the work and home life dynamics
with your husband beyond.
Madison Keys (46:51):
You know what's funny everyone asked us that, and I
feel like it's not really something that we struggle with.
I think partially because since we both played already, we
were so good at being tennis court life and it's
I don't even know if we necessarily ever really like
switch on or switch off. It's just so a part
(47:15):
of our life that I mean, in the middle of
dinner and again, like you said, he's like the biggest
tennis nerd on the planet, and I swear to god,
Wh'll wake up at like five am sometimes and like
be thinking of just the most like absurd, random thing
and then all of a sudden he's like on YouTube.
(47:35):
It's like five point thirty in the morning and he's
on YouTube like looking something up because he like wanted
to see something. But but it'll just happen like at
breakfast where he's you know, I've been struggling on something
in practice, and all of a sudden it'll click for
him and he was like, oh, I know who hit
this ball amazingly well, and then he's like searching some
(47:58):
player literally from any era, which is always the thing
that blows my mind. And he's like, okay, so you
see how they do that, and like, you guys have
similar grips, and like, so it's that'll happen at breakfast
or at dinner or whatever, or in the middle of practice,
like something will pop into my head where I'm like,
(48:18):
oh shit, like someone's coming to the house tomorrow at
this time, Like I totally forgot you need to like
put that in your phone so that you know when
someone's at the house. So it's just I mean, we're
really good at just kind of bouncing in and out,
and he's very good about as much as it keeps
him awake at night, you know. Yeah, Like there's times
(48:43):
when if I'm on the couch watching HGTV while scrolling TikTok,
like it's not the time to try to bring up Hey,
So in practice tomorrow.
Rennae Stubbs (48:54):
Yeah, yeah, that's good. That would be that would be
that would be interesting. You guys are such a good relationship,
were able to be like top to the hand not
now all right, this was a great question. This is
the last one from social because I'd said I don't
asked one or two. So a lot of the answers
you've already given have been questions that people have asked.
But based on her experience, what advice would she give
(49:15):
to an aspiring champion to let go of the weight
of expectation and help them reach their full potential. Was
there a key aspect in your mental work that triggered
that mindset shift and that was a feely I think
I got that name right. But that was a great question.
Madison Keys (49:30):
I thought, that's a very good question. I think, I mean,
I think it'd be hard to just give you a
blanket answer that would just everyone would feel the same,
because obviously everyone's very different. I know for me that
it took a lot of kind of talking through things,
and I think as I started talking about more things,
(49:51):
I started learning things about myself, kind of discovering things
that I thought about myself that I didn't even know
that was really there. But one day, one day we
were talking and I was saying something, and I remember
saying the statement. It was something along the lines of
(50:13):
I've I don't think that I have played to my
potential because I was supposed to be great and I
haven't reached that yet. And saying that out loud for
the first time, I like, I really didn't think that
(50:35):
was something that I felt about myself, and I had
to really deal with feeling like I had failed and
getting over the hurdle of if I never went a
grand slam, I'm not a failure. That's not the blanket.
(50:56):
That's not like the line of you've had a successful
career or you have it, and I think it's really
hard kind of place to live as a tennis player
because that kind of is what a lot of people
make as success. And you look around and you say, like,
(51:17):
Svitolina has had a phenomenal career, phenomenal like in no
world where anyone would say that she was a failure.
Yes, ever yeah. And she never won a Grand Slam.
But like, and I think that was it was a
hard thing for me because I would look at other
people and I'd be like, no, they're they've had phenomenal careers,
(51:39):
like they're not a failure, and all I had to
turn that back on myself and say, well, wait, no,
like I've I've done some pretty good things, Like I've
had a pretty successful career, Like I would definitely if
you told me, at you know, ten years old, the
achievements that I have, I would take like, I would
(52:00):
say that was a really good career. So that was
kind of my That was kind of my struggle to
work through. And it really just all came back to
not having won a Slam. It felt like I needed
it in order to have any sort of validation for
(52:24):
my career, and I needed to figure out how to
find my own validation, not in the trophies that I
had or I didn't have. Yeah.
Rennae Stubbs (52:36):
Yeah, And you don't have to worry about ever saying
that to yourself, even though you realize even if you
hadn't wont it, your life would not and your career
would not have been a failure because you've, as you said,
you've achieved some incredible things. Is there a part of you
that thinks this I'm I'm going to keep striving for more.
(52:59):
Like you know, I know that you can improve your
full hand drop shot. That's a joke, but let's face it,
if you have that on clay Madi, you're gonna kill it.
You're gonna kill it. Everyone's gonna be running back and
you can just get that little dropper might be good
at Indian Wells and just say it the volley's listen.
I know Beyond appreciates like helping you with things. I
(53:21):
can help you with that little inside out back in volley,
that's my go to. Can I can help you with
that one?
Madison Keys (53:28):
I mean, yeah, I definitely think that. I'm I feel
like at this point, the kind of the sky is
the limit. I know that. It's funny because you know,
when you're thirty in sports, it's like, oh, it's a miracle.
She's not up there.
Rennae Stubbs (53:46):
You're peaking. You're just at the start of the peak.
Madison Keys (53:50):
But it's like, I feel like, as long as as
long as my body can hold up and as long
as I can stay healthy, I feel like there's just
still so much room to improve. And I feel I mean,
I feel like the best physically that I have felt
in many, many years. So I feel like there's just
(54:12):
still so much opportunity.
Rennae Stubbs (54:15):
Well, I just got excited thinking about it, because you
know how much I love you, you know how much
I believe in you. So I'm just saying, clay, that's
your jam too. Grass. We know you can play well
on grass. And now that you're serving with the feed up,
you know, and you get a little bit more pop
on that serve, even more free points. And the US Open,
(54:36):
we know how well you played there, so no pressure.
I just think, you know, why not go for a
career Grand Slam in one year?
Madison Keys (54:42):
Let's go.
Rennae Stubbs (54:48):
Talk to the little Madi down there. I'm sure, I'm
sure a little Madi I'll agree, right, now. But anyway, Madi,
I love you so much. I'm so freaking freaking proud
of you. I got to see you coming out of
your press I was leaving to go get transportation and
you walk down from all your media, which was like
two thirty in the morning, and I was leaving and
I just looked at you and I'm just so incredibly
(55:09):
I know how much you've gone through. We've seen each
other in a lot of hallways and locker rooms, a
lot of tears, and it was just great to see
you crying, knowing that you finally did something that we
all know you were capable of, and you did it
so well.
Madison Keys (55:23):
Thank you.
Rennae Stubbs (55:24):
I'll see you in Indian Wells. I'll come and watch
your first match, and I can't wait for it. Madi Keys,
thank you so much for it, for joining me today.
Madison Keys (55:31):
Thank you
This podcast is supported by BNP Parbias as part of their
global commitment to tennis at all levels. BNP Parribas is
the world's leading tennis sponsor and the title sponsor of
the BNP Paribas Open.
Rennae Stubbs (00:34):
Hi, everybody, Welcome to the Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast. What
a treat I have for you all today, the one
and only now Grand Slam champion Madison Keys. If I
had a clapped thingy that I could afford, I would
have done that. But welcome my friend. Wow wow wow.
First of all, the first thing I want to say
(00:56):
to you is before the Australian Open started, Jessica Pegula
has told everybody this. I saw her in the player's
concierge at the Australian Open, and I walked up and
I said, hey girl, great week last week, you know,
way to make it through the finals.
Madison Keys (01:12):
Good start to the year.
Rennae Stubbs (01:12):
And she goes, Rennae, if Madison plays anything like she
did against me in the third set, she's winning this tournament.
And I was like, okay, that's some pretty high praise
from you. Sure enough, she was right. So I'm just
gonna give Jess all the credit here. No none to you.
Madison Keys (01:28):
She texted me after a match. I mean we traveled
together as well, but she texted me like, I got
this long message as we're like meeting at each other
at the airport, and she was like, no, you don't understand.
You're playing unreal. Like She's like no, no, no, but
but you don't get it. It's like unreal tennis. Like
just just do that again, Like I can't. She's like,
(01:50):
I'm not even like sad that I last, because like
that was insane.
Rennae Stubbs (01:56):
I mean, you know, I've got so many questions when
I ask you, but did that did that resonate in
you at all? Like hearing it from someone who knows
you so well, also knows how you can play, but
also as being in the latter part of grand slams,
particularly the last one at the US Open.
Madison Keys (02:12):
I mean, yes and no. I think it's one of
those things where I definitely felt like I was playing
really well. I feel like I almost played better in
Adelaide than I did in Melbourne. I was playing just
unreal tennis. Everything just kind of was coming together really
easily and just kind of worked my way through the
draw fairly simply. But you know, those weeks where you
(02:34):
kind of are just like, yeah, like this is just
kind of my week. So it was just one of
those things where I was like thanks, like, yeah, I've
been working hard, but like it was a good week.
But it's funny. After I won, she was like, I
feel like I'm very happy for you, but I feel
she was like, I feel like everyone else is just
catching up to where I've been for two weeks. So
(02:55):
she's like, I'm not surprised. I'm not like I just
expected this to happen.
Rennae Stubbs (03:00):
Yeah. I will give Casey Dellacqua a lot of credit
to because she picked you as well because she saw
you play a lot in Adelaide. So before we get
to the match and all of the things that I
want to talk to you about, what's the last few
weeks been like for you? And I just want you
to tell people what the moments were like, as in
the hours after you won the tournament, like what are
(03:23):
the things that people have no idea? Yeah, it looks
all glamorous, you get this big check, you get a trophy,
and they think you just walk away. Nah, can you
tell people what you've what you had to do immediately
after the match and then subsequently after.
Madison Keys (03:34):
That, Yeah, it's been it's been kind of crazy, and
even being a player, I had no idea like the
hours that go into it. Immediately from the court I
went and I did. I think we did like six
live TV interviews all in a row, hadn't even showered yet,
(03:58):
had no food. Literally at I was like, I'm so thirsty,
Like I haven't had a drink of water. It's been
like an hour. So did that, and then finally had
like twenty minutes, had drug testing that I had to do. Yeah, yeah,
finally took a shower, shoveled food in my face because
(04:19):
I was like, oh, I'm already late, and then probably
did another like two hours of media. So I think
we got back to the hotel at almost three. It
was like two thirty. And of course then I'm like
I can't sleep, so I don't think. I don't think
I even partially fell asleep until like five am, and
(04:43):
then I think it was like eight o'clock. I had
to wake up in the morning and had like more media,
more stuff, did that for the morning, and then finally
around like I think it was probably around noon or
one o'clock, we were finally like done for the day.
And then I had to pack. I was just a zombie.
I was like so happy, but also it was like
(05:04):
I hadn't even taken a breath and absorbed anything that happened.
And then we had to fly. We flew back to
the States. I went to New York. I had like
an entire day of press in New York. Got back
like Tuesday night, I think, got back to Florida Tuesday night,
and before the season had even started, we had agreed
(05:26):
to do. One of the commitments that I had to
do was for like that Wednesday. So I literally landed
and had to go back in and do more stuff
the next day. And then it's like the just kind
of the follow up, last minute interviews and everything, and
I think it was probably I think it was like
Thursday night, and I finally said to my agent. I
(05:48):
was like, I'm done, Like I can't. I'm gonna put
my phone in a drawer. I can't talk, Like I'm
I cannot talk to anyone else. I can't be on
my phone. It's going in a drawer. If anyone needs me,
caled Yarn, I will talk to everyone on Monday.
Rennae Stubbs (06:05):
Yeah, So I don't I really wanted you to tell
people that because I want people to understand what it's
like to you know, and I'm sure you have such
respect now for people that do this all the time,
that have won, you know ten twenty plus Grand Slams.
It's like, this is the way it is, and clearly
they're used to it, so they know what's coming. But
I wanted people to understand that it's not just all
(06:27):
these roses. It's a lot of work, you know, and
you can't say no to that kind of thing. So
I want to know. There's moments like I'm not putting
myself any even remotely close to winning a singles Grand Slam.
But I remember first time I won a Grand Slam,
and I got into the shower after the match, and
it was the first time I felt like I was alone.
Was there a moment where you were alone where it
(06:49):
all hit you that you had just won.
Madison Keys (06:55):
I think it was probably like it was kind of
after all of the interviews and everything were done, because
it felt like I was finally able to sit with
my own thoughts. And I think I was just kind
of like sitting at home and going through like just
the normal routine of you're back home, you're making coffee
(07:17):
or whatever. And I think this was back in Florida.
It was like days later. It was like days later,
and I finally just sat there. I was like, holy crap,
I did that. Like that actually it actually happened, And
and it's it's a it's a weird thing when something
(07:39):
that you've been like dreaming of and working towards since
you were a little kid and then you finally do it,
the like mental and emotional shift that happens where you're like, wait,
I actually did it, yeah, and then you kind of
were sitting there and you go, wait, what do I
do now? Like, oh wait, like what's next? Like I've
(08:02):
I've spent almost thirty years of my life essentially like
working towards this thing, and it's always felt like it was,
you know, just a little bit far away and like
I had to still keep working for it, and then
I did it, and now I have to like totally,
I feel like I'm like shifting as a person. Yeah,
(08:23):
And it's I think it's also weird because it's like
I think when when it's still a dream and it's
still a goal, you kind of have like all these
bows and rainbows around it and you're like it's going
to be the greatest moment of my entire life, and
then it happens and you're like, Okay, that was really
really great and I really loved it and I'd love
(08:44):
to do that again. But also, that's not really what
I thought it was going to be, Like.
Rennae Stubbs (08:51):
Yeah, that's interesting in what way? In what way? Like
it is it because you're like, oh, well, what's next.
Madison Keys (09:00):
I think there's a little bit of that, And part
of that, actually, as a tennis player, kind of annoys
me that that's like the first thought because every other
sport they have like their thing and then they have
all this off time and they get to enjoy it,
and for us it's like, oh, there's another tournament two
days later.
Rennae Stubbs (09:19):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. They don't have an office like four months.
Madison Keys (09:23):
No. So I think that's part of it. But I
think the other thing was I think for a really
long time for me, I had this kind of thought
around winning a Grand Slam and what it would mean
and what it would do, and I think in my
brain it was like it would be like this life changing,
(09:44):
insane thing that I finally felt validated in all this,
and then I think I finally got to the point
in my career where I was like, Okay, I don't
really need to win a Grand Slam to feel like
I've achieved a lot in my career. So I think
I kind of stopped thinking about what it would be like,
(10:04):
and then it kind of just all happened in my
brain quickly, and so it was just kind of it
just it was like my brain had to actually get
on track with like everything that had happened so quickly.
Rennae Stubbs (10:20):
So I always talk about I've talked about many times
on my podcast or just in general terms, and I
always talk about the subconscious and conscious minds, And so
for me, it's like your conscious mind is always has
always said to you, you're good enough to win this,
and yes, you know, when you made your first Grand
Slam final, You're like, yeah, I'm going to win this match.
But there's this little, tiny, little tiny Madison Keys in
(10:42):
the back of the This is how I describe it.
It's like the little one that's in the back of
the mind going no, you're not, You're really not You're
really not, You're really not ready. Idon't know if you're
good enough. Is it a little bit like you talked
about already, You've always said you felt like was maybe
a little bit an attainable thing. You weren't quite sure
if you could get there, so well, I want to
know then, like after Adelaide and going into the Aussie
(11:04):
and having an extraordinarily bad, tough draw like you had
the you had arguably the hardest draw in the tournament,
which maybe was a good thing for you. I don't know,
but do you was when you played, particularly the Semis
and the final against arguably the two best players in
the world, were your subconscious and conscious minds a little
(11:25):
bit more aligned, better than they've ever been, Like, was
that little madisone sort of being shut down a little
bit more?
Madison Keys (11:35):
I think I think there was definitely there's I mean,
I think there was still moments of doubt, I think,
but I think that's the one thing that I'm kind
of coming to terms with is that there's always going
to be doubt. It's it's a normal reaction feeling. It's
(11:56):
just life. You're never going to go through life and
say I'm one hundred percent confident all of the time.
It's just it's not possible.
Rennae Stubbs (12:03):
So I think not having the negative reaction towards doubt
and and wasting energy and time being mad at myself
for having doubt and just and almost like fighting against
it and saying, well, no, I.
Madison Keys (12:23):
Don't think that, like that's not true. I know I
am confident, and instead saying like, okay, like that's a
fine feeling to have, but like you can have that
feeling and you can also still win this match, so
like it doesn't have to be you don't have to
be one hundred percent. I'm gonna win this and everything
is gonna be perfect. So I think that's that was
(12:44):
a big shift for me. That helped a lot, just
kind of knowing even throughout a match, there's gonna be
ebbs and flows, and there's gonna be times when you're
super locked in, and then there's gonna be times when
you kind of get lost in the clouds. And I
think the reason that the top players are so good
is because when they do get lost in the clouds,
(13:06):
they come back so quickly and without judgment. So I
think that's kind of where I've gotten a lot better,
just kind of being able to refocus and not have
the judgment around the negative thoughts or things or doubts
that pop up in my head and wasting time on
(13:27):
being annoyed at myself for having them.
Rennae Stubbs (13:31):
Yeah, so how much is you know? I love so
much that you talked about going to regular therapy and
not a sports psychologist, which a lot of people do.
And I'm a really big believer in. It's probably your
actual self that's the problem here, you know what I mean.
It's not necessarily how you react in a certain point,
it's how you perceive yourself. So even the way you've
(13:54):
just talked, now you know how much did actually just
going in to actual regular therapy and you're happy in
your life. It's not like you were fighting with your
boyfriend at the time and like you were going in
and I need to fix my or maybe you were,
I don't know, but like I'm pretty sure you weren't,
but I haven't hear we were crying. Pretty sure, I'd
beyond be hard to argue with. But but like, who
(14:16):
was the catalyst that said how about this? Or was
that all you? And I got to give Petko a
lot Andrea Petkovic a lot of credit because we were
talking about you know, your racket and beyond and the
service motion and all the things which we might get to.
But Petko's like, yeah, but she's the one that made
that decision. She's the one that decided to go to therapy,
so I want to know how that came about.
(14:41):
So it was it was kind of funny. I definitely
went originally and like sit down and I was like,
I want to make ten ofs better and I want
to be good and I want to have fun on
the court. And she was like okay, and then she
asked me one question about my life and I just
(15:01):
started like sobbing, and she was like, do we think
maybe this isn't just about tennis? And I was like, oh,
maybe you're onto something. But I was just to a point,
and I think I think the reason that a lot
of things are highlighted in tennis is because it's I mean,
(15:23):
it's high stress. You're out there by yourself. I mean,
it's just if you have anything going on, you put
yourself in tennis and it's just a pressure cooker. So
everything just feels amplified. And I think off of the court,
it's a lot easier to hide from any sort of
things that you're trying to ignore. Yeah, and then on
(15:44):
a tennis court, it's you double halt on breakpoint at
five all in the third and you're ready to just
completely lose your marbles. So I think for me, I
definitely started in the thought of, like, I just want
to make tennis better. My life is great, I'm fine,
I feel great about myself. I just you know, get
(16:07):
really more of us storing Kinnis matches. But I was
I was really struggling with my relationship with tennis, and
that's kind of a hard place to be when it's
not only your job, but your job basically consumes ninety
five percent of your life. And it was really kind
(16:30):
of starting to bleed over into my personal life. And
I think at the core of it, it was just
how I felt about myself, yeap. And I think that's
the tricky part about I mean about just deeply caring
(16:50):
about your career path and what you are very passionate about,
is it's hard to separate the two things. So when
you feel some way about something that you're doing, it
kind of it's all just one. So I was starting
to kind of just really struggle just overall. And I
(17:14):
would say that it was it was just kind of
starting to become a little bit more apparent to a
lot of people that hey, I think maybe you need
to go talk to someone, and it's obviously more obvious
on a tennis court. So it started with maybe it'll
help the tennis and all that, and then from there
it was really, you know, Okay, I think I need
(17:37):
to like work on some of my own beliefs that
have kind of started to become pretty deep inside.
Yeah. I mean, honestly, I think it's such a phenomenal
thing that you're talking about it so openly, because I
think you'll hope so many people realize that, you know,
there's so much, especially someone as good as you, you know,
(17:59):
you cannot not help. But hear people say, but Madison's
so good, she hits the ball bigger than everybody. She
should be winning these matches. And at some point it
has to start, You have to. I would imagine you
would start thinking, well, why the fuck am I not
winning these matches? You know what I mean, And then
it starts to chip away at you just as a
human being. You know, you're just like, well, I'm just
(18:19):
not good enough, I guess you know. So I'm so
proud of you for doing that, because that's a huge
step to be able to go in and like dig
really deep into into your own life. So you know,
before we get back to the match, I want to
know quickly, who was the first phone call that you
made after you won? Because I mean, the people that
you love so much that have been in your corner,
(18:41):
you know, Kayla and Richard and beyond, they were there immediately,
you know, in tears and it was amazing. But who
was the first phone call you made?
Madison Keys (18:49):
I called my mom?
Rennae Stubbs (18:51):
Yeah, what was her reaction?
Madison Keys (18:57):
Honestly, it's funny. It's a lot of swear words, I
love you tears, followed by I'm so proud of you.
I mean, you could do it. I mean just it
was just it was funny. It was funny then, and
I was like, I am I am my mother's child.
Rennae Stubbs (19:14):
You are definitely definitely, oh mean, I love that. I
figured it would be your mom. But you never know,
you know, Max might want you to call him first
for some reason.
Madison Keys (19:23):
But you know, no, he was he was mess. He
was like, you can't call me. I'm still weeping, Like
I can't, I can't talk to you for a few
days because I'm just gonna just weep.
Rennae Stubbs (19:34):
Have you watched the match?
Madison Keys (19:36):
Since I've watched some highlights, I have watched match.
Rennae Stubbs (19:42):
Just so you know, I've watched the match three times.
I swear to god, I've watched it three times. It
was such a good tennis match.
Madison Keys (19:49):
But anyway going, I've watched some highlights, but I haven't
actually sat there and just like watched it. Fully. Yeah,
there's definitely there are some highlights, and I feel like
there's a few points that are just like.
Rennae Stubbs (20:05):
On replay, which tell me which ones?
Madison Keys (20:10):
Honestly, the one that I still cannot believe was five
all thirty all in the third. The return, and I
have no idea, but I remember just even like how
I reacted after I made it, did you like fun?
I was like, oh, that was a big point.
Rennae Stubbs (20:32):
Well, I have to say to you you know, clearly
I was doing the coverage court side and Mary Joe Fernandez,
I believe, I'm not sure one hundred percent sure, but
I'm fairly certain she said, just deadpan, just went that
is the shot of the tournament, or it might be
in the match. It was like, you couldn't say anything
other than that because you were on the edge of
that precipice there, right, and you know, we all know
(20:56):
we can all talk about the US Open match, and
they were so similar the match with Sebolenka, like you
won the first set seeks love, and I was thinking,
did you think about losing a game in the first
set at the Australian Open, just so you didn't do
the same thing.
Madison Keys (21:10):
You know. It's funny. I didn't even think of the
match at the US Open at all. Well, didn't even
popp into my head.
Rennae Stubbs (21:18):
That is remarkable because I just getting ready to talk
to you today I saw of you know, I was
wanted to go back and watch that match because I
did the match, but I couldn't really remember. I know,
you're up a set in five to three, but I
have to say Sabalenka played off her trait from a
set in five to three.
Madison Keys (21:32):
So I mean she played well and I think she
played so well. And I think the thing that going
into this final I kept saying to myself was she
played brave. She went after her shot, she didn't back up,
she went after everything. And I really wanted to make
(21:52):
sure that I did that this match because I felt
like at the US Open, I let my foot off
the gas pedal one hundred and gave her more opportunities
than she already is capable of creating by herself.
Rennae Stubbs (22:06):
I actually wrote down here five three, fifteen thirty lazy legs. Yeah,
because you at fifteen thirty went had a chance to
maybe win the match at five to three in the
second set. You had a ball that was kind of
like mid range. It was like one of those ones
you could have got around and hit your beforehand, and
you chose to hit a backhand and you missed it.
And I remember thinking, if that was the stray and
(22:28):
Open this year, you would have absolutely got around and
crushed an inside out for hand, which you did on
match point. So I think that's the difference, and that's
an interesting so you can learn from your losses and
you do. What was the conversation with Bjorn after the
first set? I saw you go over. You had a
(22:50):
bit of a laugh. Actually she went off the court,
I think, and I think he might have been given
you a bit of crap about your slice backhand because
you went into a little bit of negative slice back
and maybe it was after the second set, but you guys, like,
what was the conversation that you were primary? That was
the primary thing that he was trying to get across
to you most of the time, particularly at the end.
Madison Keys (23:10):
I think it was really just trying to get on
the offense before she did, and I think that that
was kind of the key, and I think the biggest
thing in the second set. I thought she started doing
a really great job of mixing things up. She started
using her drop shot so well. And I think I
(23:32):
don't even really remember what exactly we were talking about,
but it was really just trying to try to stay
on offense so that she can't do that as much,
and just keep trying to stay close in the match
and then just try to sink your teeth into it.
And I remember before we switched sides, he kind of
(23:54):
just said, like, it's fine, like you're going into a
tiebreaker if you lose this game, Like go after some
of the turns a little bit, just because I was
kind of making some but they weren't good enough that
she was usually either hitting a winner or getting on
offense on her first ball. So he was like, fine,
just like go after a little bit more like take
a step back and take full cuts.
Rennae Stubbs (24:15):
Yeah. I looked at the stats today of the match,
(24:47):
and you hit two return winners in the entire match.
And you hit one in the third set and it
was the love fifteen and I was sitting next to
as you know, Laura Robson, who's one of your best friends,
and I hit her on the arm and I was like,
holy shit, she she's gonna win this match. And it
(25:08):
was just like, I want you to talk a little
bit about I always talk about the slope at this
train Open. There's a little bit of a slope, the
downhill slope from the President's end down. How much did
that help, like in the last game, because in the
game before you gestured to be on because he wanted
you to step up on the return and you said,
I can't. I don't know exact words, but you are
(25:30):
basically like. I can't really do it. Tell people how
at home, how the slope is a little bit difficult
at this train Open, and how being down one end
to the other is very difficult on return, and so well,
I think.
Madison Keys (25:43):
It's a little bit of the slope. And it's also
if there's any sort of breeze. It always comes from
the end.
Rennae Stubbs (25:49):
It's not in my opinion, it's not super typical, especially
on a big stadium, for it to be from one
baseline to the other. You usually have some sort of crosswind,
but this one is pretty strong from directly behind you.
So I think that along with the slope that one
side is it's easier to return and it's harder to serve.
Madison Keys (26:13):
Oh it's not of the serve with the wind and
the slope.
Rennae Stubbs (26:16):
No. No, if you're on the other side, and I'm
saying if the wind is behind you or the wind
is in front of you, when the wind is in
your face and you're serving uphill, you can feel you
can feel the difference, and you kind of feel like
you're It's like, okay, usually my serve is like supposed
to help me, and all of a sudden, I feel
like I'm like behind somehow. So I think I kind
(26:40):
of I kind of knew that was there, and I
I just kind of was like, Okay, well, I'm just
gonna try to go a little bit extra on these,
just because at least the wind's not going to be
pushing it into me. Yeah, And for I mean, for
whatever reason, I just was like way more locked in
(27:01):
that game. Yeah, I mean it was so impressive, But
take me to the match point. When you got to
match point fifteen forty, which is a little bit of
a buffer, but also at the same time, it's kind
of like it almost makes you more nervous because you're like,
oh my god, I've. Got to You're like, oh my god,
if I lose this one, it's forty thirty, and then
if I lose that one, then it's duece. We hate
(27:22):
to tell people, but that is exactly what goes through
the mind. So what went through your mind at fifteen
forty because you played a phenomenal point to get to fifteen forty,
you got a couple of balls back that maybe people
thought you weren't going to get back, you speedy little devil.
Madison Keys (27:37):
I think at forty fifteen it was just I just
kind of kept thinking, like, she's probably gonna hit a
great serve because I feel like whenever you back her
into a corner is when she plays her best. So
it was, you know, just expect it. Obviously hit a
great serve, couldn't do anything about it, walked over to
(27:57):
the other side, and I think all I really said
to myself before the point was just try to have
a good like deep middle return, just to try to
be neutral, like I just don't want to be on
defense right away. And I did and I think I
actually hit it better than I thought. And the first
(28:18):
ball came in the first forehand I hit, I didn't
hit it clean and I wanted it to go more
off the court and it went up the middle and
I remember thinking, oh shit, like she might do something
with that. And then she did it and it kind
of came back to me and I was like, well,
it's sour and never you might as well just go
for it.
Rennae Stubbs (28:37):
So really, that's when the ball came back to you.
You were a little bit sort of semi surprised at
old shit, she didn't do something with a lesser shot
of mules, and you said, fuck it, I'm going for it.
Madison Keys (28:47):
Yeah, because I really wanted to. I mean, the whole
point in the whole game plan for the match was
to try to be on offense as quickly as possible.
So as I kind of mishit it, I was a
little annoy at myself because I was like, I should
have done something better with the ball that I got. Yeah,
And so the ball that came back, I was like, Okay,
(29:09):
I can definitely do something with this, and I don't.
I want to make sure I do more in the
ball that I just hit or else. I'm definitely not
getting another opportunity.
Rennae Stubbs (29:20):
When it came off your racquet, did you know as
a stride winner because she was leaning for.
Madison Keys (29:25):
No. I think I was still like creating for something
to come back, because I feel like it is funny.
I feel like watching the replays and watching the highlights,
it's like it takes me a second to actually be like,
oh shit, I did win. It's over.
Rennae Stubbs (29:44):
You know, there were crazy stats in the third sit,
and I wrote a couple of them down and I
have no idea if you looked at the stats, probably not,
But you were getting crushed on your second serve in
the third set, and she was winning eighty two percent
on her second serve and you were winning fifty four percent.
(30:04):
She only won sixty eight percent of her first serf
and you won eighty five. So the difference with her
hitting first serfs, you were actually better off hitting her
first serf. Is that not a crazy stat? In the
third set?
Madison Keys (30:17):
That is kind of crazy. Yeah.
Rennae Stubbs (30:19):
I couldn't believe that stat when I saw it. And
you guys, there was one point that separated you in
the match and one point that separated you in the
third set. That's how close the match was overall.
Madison Keys (30:30):
I mean it was I felt like it was one
of those matches where her level wasn't amazing at the start.
Mine was pretty good, and I think she really raised
her level in the second set, and I hadn't quite
cut up yet, and then I felt like the third
set was just dogfight, really high level tennis on bull sides.
Rennae Stubbs (30:48):
No, it was incredible third set, which is why I
think it's so fascinating that you didn't think about the
US Open because they were so similar in so many
ways other than the fact that you were well ahead
at the US Open, I felt like there was so
when I've watched it since, there was very similar. So
I'm pretty impressed that you didn't think about the US
Open in that match is probably what helped you get
(31:10):
through it, to be quite honest, is that you didn't
think about it. So after you when you know, there's
this tears, it's just such a great moment. Everybody, so
many people were so happy for you, Madi, including me.
I mean, there was a lot of tears. Mary Joe
Fernandez was having a hard time in the in the booth,
I was having a hard time. I was trying to
get through my last little bit about you. The thing
(31:32):
that impressed me the most is that you won that match.
She did not lose. That you won that match, which
is such a great feeling. But also talking about what everybody,
what you said about what you had to do in
the days after, is why I'm so happy that you
didn't go to the Middle East. What discussion was that,
Like with Beyond, I had a discussion with him actually
when I saw him that night, and I was like
(31:53):
don't let her go to the Middle East. I was like,
because one thing Sam Stosur said after the match, I
did a recap with her on my podcast and she said,
the one regret I have after winning the ucycle was
going to Asia because I didn't give myself the time
to take it all in and enjoy it. So what
was the reasoning behind not going to the Middle East
and what's the thought process now going into Indian wells?
Madison Keys (32:16):
Well, there was a lot of back and forth on it,
and I had obviously, I mean I obviously played the
whole tournament with my leg taped up as well, which
it wasn't ever really a hindrance, but it was also
still something that I was like, it's obviously not one
hundred percent, so that was obviously also part of it,
(32:40):
was also a factor in it, but it was I
think by the time I got home and had actually
like finally had just a day at home where I
didn't have to do anything, I think I would have
had to have got I think it was like eight
or eight days, and I was gonna have to travel again. Yeah,
(33:03):
And obviously the flight home is it's over. It's over.
It's like a twenty eight hour day of travel, and
so I was thinking, Okay, eight days later, I'm gonna
have to do another twenty hour plus travel day play
two weeks, fly all the way to the last coast,
(33:25):
so then go to the east coast, and then you
have a few weeks and then you go back to Europe.
And I just I was like, Okay, there's no way
I can get on a plane in eight days. Yeah,
and I just I'm still I was so even the
week that I started hitting. I think I started hitting
(33:46):
like the Monday after we got home, so I had
four or five days off, and even then I was
still exhausted, just mentally, emotionally, just so tired, and I
kept kind of thinking like maybe we still just do Dubai.
But then it's also like it's so far for one tournament,
(34:08):
and it just it was just kind of like the
pros and cons of do you go all that way,
maybe have a good tournament, maybe not, And it just
it felt so rushed, and I still it took me
like a full week of practice to finally feel like
I was back to myself. And so I was like,
(34:28):
why am I going to go put myself in a
bad situation where I'm finally feeling better on the court,
I'm finally feeling like myself again. Why am I going
to try to like rush and put myself in this
situation where I don't feel ready because I'm not. I
haven't had enough time to fully recover. Why why would
(34:49):
I do that to myself?
Rennae Stubbs (34:52):
I think that's called maturity, and I think, and I'm
serious when I tell you this, Like it was the
one thing that Sam said in the pod. She's like,
I hope she doesn't I said, I have a feeling
she probably won't go, but he goes. I hope she
doesn't go because it's the one regret that I have
because it's so overwhelming what you've just gone through and
you have to take it in right. And one of
(35:14):
the things that Sam said is you also have to
always remember just because you won the ustrae and Open,
or in Sam's case, the US Open, doesn't mean you're
going to win the next match, you know, so you
have to be willing to be prepared to, you know,
go through the hard work again and deal with that because,
as you already pointed out, tennis is really hard. You
don't have an off season to enjoy this big win.
(35:36):
So how has everything been like preparing now and getting
yourself ready for an Indian Wells? Where do you feel
like you are emotionally and mentally?
Madison Keys (35:46):
I feel like it's it's been a good amount of
time for me to be back on court, and I
feel like, I mean, like I said, it felt like
it took seven to ten days to finally find my
feet again. And I think the other thing that's really
funny is I'm sure Sam experienced as well as now,
(36:07):
all of a sudden you're dealing with your own expectations
all of a sudden dramatically changing. So what But I
think I've had to be really honest with myself and
know that that's going to be something that I'm going
to have to work through because it's a totally normal
(36:29):
thing to happen. But it's also like no one really
thrives when you're going out and thinking like I have
to win everything now. So I think that's going to
be I mean, that's going to be my new challenge.
And obviously it's it's a really good place to obviously
be in to have to like learn how to deal
(36:50):
with that pressure because it means that you've done some
really big things. But it's definitely something new that I'm
going to have to figure out how to whether the
storm that I'm creating.
Rennae Stubbs (37:03):
Especially like, yeah, especially in the US.
Madison Keys (37:06):
And I think that's It's also been a good amount
of time for me to get to the point of
realization because at first I was like, yeah, no, I'm
totally cool, Like I'm just gonna think this exact same
way and everything will be fine. And I was like, Okay, well,
you're lying to yourself. So once we get to the
point of like honesty, then we can move forward and
(37:27):
we can work that way.
Rennae Stubbs (37:30):
So have you been back to your therapist?
Madison Keys (37:33):
Multiple times?
Rennae Stubbs (37:35):
Okay, so great, I'm glad you said that. What was
the first conversation. What was what was the first like
one two minutes, like when you walked in the door
to see her or him.
Madison Keys (37:46):
Just like immediately tears. I was like, I'm so happy,
I'm so happy. But then it was it was really
good because even after my match, I got the assign
to do a lot of writing and just make sure
that you put all of it out there and really
kind of live in all of the moments. And there
(38:09):
was definitely a little bit like I had already kind
of gone into okay, but what next? And she was
very quick to be like, hmm, let's like, let's let's
take this win. Let's like live in the wind a
little bit longer. Yeah, just to just really like just
appreciate it. It's just like you work so hard for it.
(38:33):
It's it would be such a shame to not actually
enjoy it and just immediately shift into Okay, there's a
new tournament next week, like gotta go do that.
Rennae Stubbs (38:44):
Does it get to be a little bit more like
exciting what you now know that you're capable of doing
under the most incredible duress. I mean, as I said,
you know, for people that don't know your drawl was
insane and you beat some of the best, if not
arguably the best players in the world are at the
Grand Slam. You know, you beat Eager, you beat Rybakina,
(39:05):
you beat Sabalenka. It's like you beat Switzerland, who's been
there a million times. Like you beat Danielle Collins, Like
you beat so many people in that tournament that know
what it's like to be deep into a Grand Slam
and to win them. I also now know watch out
(39:27):
people because Madison knows now how to win the big matches.
And so how much does that actually excite you going forward?
Madison Keys (39:36):
It's been really exciting, and I think that I think
I feel really grounded as well. I think I have
a really have just some of the best people around me,
and it's probably the most honest that I've been just
(39:56):
where I'm at and what's going on in my brain.
And I feel like they have helped me navigate so
many moments. And even before before I played Iga in
the Semis, my fitness trainer just looked at me and said,
you know that, like you're worthy of this, like you
(40:17):
can do it, and just like immediate tears. And then
he made me say it back to him and I
was like I can't, Like I actually can't say it,
and he's like, no, no, no, like you're gonna say it.
And it's I mean, it's it's little things like that
that I don't think people like saying that. I don't
think people really understand like how much of an impact
(40:40):
that makes. Yeah, but it makes a huge impact. And
it's just that little bit that you know deep in
the third that you have something to hang on to.
So I think I'm really excited about obviously what I
can do, but I think I'm more excited just with
the people that are around me and getting to have,
you know, hopefully a really good season, but just I mean,
(41:04):
I've just been so happy to be at this point
in my career and have the people that I have.
It's just it's honestly just kind of like icing on
the cake.
Rennae Stubbs (41:16):
I think that's why we saw all the tears from
your team. We knew we were going to get tears
from beyond, but to see Kaylor, to see Richard like
just to see them because they know how much and
we know we see you guys together all the time.
We know what you guys have been through, and particularly
with your ill you know your injuries and everything that
you've had. I mean Wimbledon last year, I thought you
(41:36):
were playing unbelievable. But does that give you a lot
of hope knowing that if physically you can stand up
to it now mentally you know you can. How much
does that help you? Because I can tell you I've
said this to people. I'm not putting any pressure on you,
but you are good enough to win every single Grand
Slam because you can play on every surface. So you
know not to put pressure on you know, not to
(41:58):
do it to yourself, but you know, I want you
to feel that way like when you go into those
slams now, that's where your head should be. You are
worthy of that. Do you feel that?
Madison Keys (42:08):
Yeah, well that I definitely feel like I've It's kind
of like it's like, Okay, you finally you finally knock
the wall down that you had been struggling against. And
I think now it's such a it's such a exciting
(42:28):
place to be because you know how you knock the
wall down and you know that you can. You have
people also there that can help support you through that,
and I think there's just I mean, there's so many
weeks of the year that you can that we can
do really, you know, great things. And I feel like
(42:48):
it's I feel like I'm finally like probably the most
me and the most connected to myself that I've ever been. Yeah,
and I feel like that's how me just so much
on the court.
Rennae Stubbs (43:03):
So I didn't ask you. I asked you about the
first moment where you had by yourself where you like
sunk in. But was there a moment when you were
like with beyond I don't know, lying in bed or
waking up in the morning and you just looked at
each other and went, oh, my fucking god, we did it.
Madison Keys (43:20):
I think it was that moment actually happened pretty quickly.
But we got back to the room and it was
like literally like almost three am, both so delirious and tired,
but just I'm cloud dying and he just looked at
me and he was like, holy shit, like you just
you just won the Australian Oup. It like that that
(43:43):
actually happened. I know, it's crazy, but it's been really
cool too. I mean, I think it's it's fairly rare
in the sport to be able to have your significant
other when you win the big moments, but to really
like do it together. Yeah, it's been. I mean it's
(44:06):
it's honestly one of the coolest things.
Rennae Stubbs (44:09):
Yeah, I mean, we know we've talked about the service change, which,
by the way, I thought you should have done years
ago as well, just so I was like, why doesn't
she step up on a serve? I don't get it.
You're serving the ball so much harder now. You hit
zero double faults in the final zero, which is unbelievable
considering I know that you were struggling a little bit
with getting the timing on the second serve because it
felt a little bit different. But that also shows to
(44:32):
people at home, like it doesn't matter how old you are,
you know, and relatively you're still so young, but at
thirty you kind of like, well, I've been playing professional
tennis now for fifteen years, Like really, I'm going to
change my service motion and I changed my racket, I'm
going to change all my strings, like this is crazy.
But also it shows you and Petko said, that also
shows how gutsy you were to do that, because there's
been some people that have changed rackets and changed this
(44:53):
and changed that, and they've gone downhill real fast.
You know. I think about Radwanska when she changed the racket.
She couldn't win a match after that. So it's like
that was gutsy of you and the belief and the
trust that you obviously have and beyond and his just
his tennis nerdy brain. It's just awesome to see. I
just like him, so I love him so much. Who
was the coolest person that reached out to you the
(45:17):
text or the call and you were like.
Madison Keys (45:21):
Little Wayne DMed me. We had like a back and
forth which was very funny, but it was funny. I
was making breakfast one morning and I got a phone
call and I didn't have the number saved, and I
was I just answered. I don't know why, but I
was like hello, and she's like, Madi, it's Kim. I
(45:44):
was like she's like, yeah, it's Kim. And I was like,
oh my god, thanks Kim talking about yes And it
meant the world to me because after I lost in
after I lost you an open final, I saw her
right after the match and she gave me the biggest
hug and the biggest kiss on the cheek and said
(46:05):
it's okay. I've been there, You're gonna do it like
it'll be okay, I promise. But I mean it just
was like so full circle that that was probably my favorite.
Rennae Stubbs (46:18):
I think that's so interesting because everyone thinks, oh, you
know this person or that person, but it just shows
you that you go back to being a little kid,
right And you know, Kim Clijsters was like your idol
and you played so you played so similarly to her.
She just wishes she had yourself. But anyway, all right,
I'm gonna ask you just a couple more questions. Is
You've been so great to spend a lot of time,
but I did put out a question to social media
(46:40):
and I wanted, you know, my listeners to like throw
in some questions to you, and one of them was
how do you balance the work and home life dynamics
with your husband beyond.
Madison Keys (46:51):
You know what's funny everyone asked us that, and I
feel like it's not really something that we struggle with.
I think partially because since we both played already, we
were so good at being tennis court life and it's
I don't even know if we necessarily ever really like
switch on or switch off. It's just so a part
(47:15):
of our life that I mean, in the middle of
dinner and again, like you said, he's like the biggest
tennis nerd on the planet, and I swear to god,
Wh'll wake up at like five am sometimes and like
be thinking of just the most like absurd, random thing
and then all of a sudden he's like on YouTube.
(47:35):
It's like five point thirty in the morning and he's
on YouTube like looking something up because he like wanted
to see something. But but it'll just happen like at
breakfast where he's you know, I've been struggling on something
in practice, and all of a sudden it'll click for
him and he was like, oh, I know who hit
this ball amazingly well, and then he's like searching some
(47:58):
player literally from any era, which is always the thing
that blows my mind. And he's like, okay, so you
see how they do that, and like, you guys have
similar grips, and like, so it's that'll happen at breakfast
or at dinner or whatever, or in the middle of practice,
like something will pop into my head where I'm like,
(48:18):
oh shit, like someone's coming to the house tomorrow at
this time, Like I totally forgot you need to like
put that in your phone so that you know when
someone's at the house. So it's just I mean, we're
really good at just kind of bouncing in and out,
and he's very good about as much as it keeps
him awake at night, you know. Yeah, Like there's times
(48:43):
when if I'm on the couch watching HGTV while scrolling TikTok,
like it's not the time to try to bring up Hey,
So in practice tomorrow.
Rennae Stubbs (48:54):
Yeah, yeah, that's good. That would be that would be
that would be interesting. You guys are such a good relationship,
were able to be like top to the hand not
now all right, this was a great question. This is
the last one from social because I'd said I don't
asked one or two. So a lot of the answers
you've already given have been questions that people have asked.
But based on her experience, what advice would she give
(49:15):
to an aspiring champion to let go of the weight
of expectation and help them reach their full potential. Was
there a key aspect in your mental work that triggered
that mindset shift and that was a feely I think
I got that name right. But that was a great question.
Madison Keys (49:30):
I thought, that's a very good question. I think, I mean,
I think it'd be hard to just give you a
blanket answer that would just everyone would feel the same,
because obviously everyone's very different. I know for me that
it took a lot of kind of talking through things,
and I think as I started talking about more things,
(49:51):
I started learning things about myself, kind of discovering things
that I thought about myself that I didn't even know
that was really there. But one day, one day we
were talking and I was saying something, and I remember
saying the statement. It was something along the lines of
(50:13):
I've I don't think that I have played to my
potential because I was supposed to be great and I
haven't reached that yet. And saying that out loud for
the first time, I like, I really didn't think that
(50:35):
was something that I felt about myself, and I had
to really deal with feeling like I had failed and
getting over the hurdle of if I never went a
grand slam, I'm not a failure. That's not the blanket.
(50:56):
That's not like the line of you've had a successful
career or you have it, and I think it's really
hard kind of place to live as a tennis player
because that kind of is what a lot of people
make as success. And you look around and you say, like,
(51:17):
Svitolina has had a phenomenal career, phenomenal like in no
world where anyone would say that she was a failure.
Yes, ever yeah. And she never won a Grand Slam.
But like, and I think that was it was a
hard thing for me because I would look at other
people and I'd be like, no, they're they've had phenomenal careers,
(51:39):
like they're not a failure, and all I had to
turn that back on myself and say, well, wait, no,
like I've I've done some pretty good things, Like I've
had a pretty successful career, Like I would definitely if
you told me, at you know, ten years old, the
achievements that I have, I would take like, I would
(52:00):
say that was a really good career. So that was
kind of my That was kind of my struggle to
work through. And it really just all came back to
not having won a Slam. It felt like I needed
it in order to have any sort of validation for
(52:24):
my career, and I needed to figure out how to
find my own validation, not in the trophies that I
had or I didn't have. Yeah.
Rennae Stubbs (52:36):
Yeah, And you don't have to worry about ever saying
that to yourself, even though you realize even if you
hadn't wont it, your life would not and your career
would not have been a failure because you've, as you said,
you've achieved some incredible things. Is there a part of you
that thinks this I'm I'm going to keep striving for more.
(52:59):
Like you know, I know that you can improve your
full hand drop shot. That's a joke, but let's face it,
if you have that on clay Madi, you're gonna kill it.
You're gonna kill it. Everyone's gonna be running back and
you can just get that little dropper might be good
at Indian Wells and just say it the volley's listen.
I know Beyond appreciates like helping you with things. I
(53:21):
can help you with that little inside out back in volley,
that's my go to. Can I can help you with
that one?
Madison Keys (53:28):
I mean, yeah, I definitely think that. I'm I feel
like at this point, the kind of the sky is
the limit. I know that. It's funny because you know,
when you're thirty in sports, it's like, oh, it's a miracle.
She's not up there.
Rennae Stubbs (53:46):
You're peaking. You're just at the start of the peak.
Madison Keys (53:50):
But it's like, I feel like, as long as as
long as my body can hold up and as long
as I can stay healthy, I feel like there's just
still so much room to improve. And I feel I mean,
I feel like the best physically that I have felt
in many, many years. So I feel like there's just
(54:12):
still so much opportunity.
Rennae Stubbs (54:15):
Well, I just got excited thinking about it, because you
know how much I love you, you know how much
I believe in you. So I'm just saying, clay, that's
your jam too. Grass. We know you can play well
on grass. And now that you're serving with the feed up,
you know, and you get a little bit more pop
on that serve, even more free points. And the US Open,
(54:36):
we know how well you played there, so no pressure.
I just think, you know, why not go for a
career Grand Slam in one year?
Madison Keys (54:42):
Let's go.
Rennae Stubbs (54:48):
Talk to the little Madi down there. I'm sure, I'm
sure a little Madi I'll agree, right, now. But anyway, Madi,
I love you so much. I'm so freaking freaking proud
of you. I got to see you coming out of
your press I was leaving to go get transportation and
you walk down from all your media, which was like
two thirty in the morning, and I was leaving and
I just looked at you and I'm just so incredibly
(55:09):
I know how much you've gone through. We've seen each
other in a lot of hallways and locker rooms, a
lot of tears, and it was just great to see
you crying, knowing that you finally did something that we
all know you were capable of, and you did it
so well.
Madison Keys (55:23):
Thank you.
Rennae Stubbs (55:24):
I'll see you in Indian Wells. I'll come and watch
your first match, and I can't wait for it. Madi Keys,
thank you so much for it, for joining me today.
Madison Keys (55:31):
Thank you
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