Australian Open champion Madison Keys talks 1st Grand Slam win, how therapy helped her get to peak mental performance
American tennis star Madison Keys was dialed in down under at the Australian Open, and for the first time in her career, she returned home with a Grand Slam title and shiny new piece of hardware.
"I feel like I still haven't quite stopped moving to actually sit there and totally take it in. It's been a crazy 48 hours. I'm just so happy I finally have one of these," she said first on "Good Morning America" alongside the sterling silver Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup.
Madison Keys takes down top 2 players in 1st career major
Keys first battled back from a set down to defeat world No. 2 Iga Świątek in the semifinal before taking on world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday in the final, who was seeking to become the first woman in 26 years to win three consecutive Australian Open titles, and became the first female player since Serena Williams in 2005 to beat the top 2 players in the world.
"Looking at the draw that I had, it's very tough -- I just felt like every round there was just more and more confidence," Keys said. "I don't know what kind of flip switched in my head, but all of a sudden I was like, 'I can do this.' I actually truly believed that I can absolutely be here on Saturday holding the trophy."
After a ruthless 2-hour and 2-minute battle on the court, which began with Keys securing a break of Sabalenka's serve in the opening game, she notched 29 winners with an inside-out forehand to secure the championship point and her first major 6-3, 2-6, 7-5.
Keys was a teen tennis prodigy and turned professional just three days after turning 14, but she never quite reached the pinnacle of success she seemed destined for so early on in her career. The soon-to-be 30-year-old told "GMA" that putting in the mental strength work and reframing her mindset has helped elevate her game.
"It kind of just felt like the opportunity slipped through my fingers a little bit," Keys said. "I was so close just a few years ago and had just a heartbreaker of a match. It was kind of in that moment where you have a lot of doubt, and you think, 'Am I ever going to be able to get back to a Grand Slam final?' I really kind of just started to put my head down and do a lot of work on the court and off the court, and here we are now."
Australian Open champion Madison Keys built confidence through therapy
Keys said that years of hearing people tell her "you're gonna win a Grand Slam" felt great and served as "a confidence builder," but that "the longer time went where I hadn't won one, I kept thinking, if I don't win one, am I a failure?'"
"I don't even think I consciously knew I was feeling it, but it felt like year after year, that internal pressure was really building," she said. "It finally took going to therapy and getting really honest. I started saying things that I didn't even know had become kind of core beliefs of mine. Being able to break those down and get to the point where I was really proud of my career and everything that I've done without winning a Grand Slam, I think I finally gave myself the freedom to go out and play at the level that I knew that I had."
"I finally got to the point where I thought, 'If it happens, amazing, if it doesn't happen, it's OK, I'll still be proud of myself,'" she said of her breakthrough.
What's next for Madison Keys after Australian Open, 1st major win
The newlywed Keys, whose husband and coach is former American tennis player Bjorn Fratangelo, said after some much needed sleep, they'll be "back to work on Monday" to prepare for "lots of tournaments" including the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells and the Miami Open back to back in March.
"It's just been really nice," she said of her marriage and professional partnership with Fratangelo, who first started helping her nearly two years ago. "He played when we first started dating, so to be able to spend time together and see each other has been amazing. But to be able to now achieve this goal, and we were able to do it together, it's just perfect."
The next major on Keys' radar will be the French Open at Roland-Garros in Paris, where she'll see a familiar face, with two-time defending champion Świątek on the clay.
