INDIAN WELLS (AFP) – Madison Keys said staying grounded in the wake of her breakthrough Grand Slam title at the Australian Open will be key to building on that success as she heads into the Indian Wells hard court tournament this week.
“Coming into this tournament, I would be lying if I said that I don’t have more expectations after having the start of the year that I do,” Keys said as she prepared for her first tournament since Melbourne.
The 30-year-old American thwarted Aryna Sabalenka’s bid for a third-straight Australian Open title in January, a triumph that was the culmination of a 15-year journey from teenage prodigy to major winner. Keys, the fourth-oldest first-time winner of a major since the Open Era began in 1968, said it was “really important for me and for my team to remember how we got there and what we were doing”.
“And I think kind of going back to that, and staying really grounded in that is going to be really important,” said Keys, adding that she would try to balance honesty in terms of expectations with “knowing that I don’t think anyone really thrives when you have such a dramatic mind shift so quickly after success”.
Keys is the fifth seed in a WTA field headed by world number one Sabalenka.
Defending champion Iga Swiatek is seeded second ahead of Americans Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula.
