Boris Becker drops 2-word reaction to Madison Keys opening up about how therapy helped set her up for Australian Open glory
Boris Becker recently reacted to Madison Keys' revelation about how therapy played a crucial role in her winning the 2025 Australian Open. Before this triumph, Keys' best result at a Grand Slam was a runner-up finish at the 2017 US Open, where she missed out on the title to fellow American Sloane Stephens.
Seeded 19th at the Melbourne Major, the 29-year-old defeated the likes of Ann Li, Elena-Gabriela Ruse, Danielle Collins, Elena Rybakina, Elina Svitolina, and Iga Swiatek to secure her spot in the final. In the championship match, she overcame the double-defending champion Aryna Sabalenka with a score of 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 to claim her first Grand Slam title.
In an interview with CBS Mornings following her win, Madison Keys expressed that she felt "amazing" after winning the 2025 Australian Open.
The World No.7 also shared a personal revelation, admitting that when she was younger, she believed that winning a Grand Slam was the only measure of success for a tennis player otherwise they are a "failure."
“It feels amazing. I am actually really glad that it happened this way because I feel like when I was a lot younger, I felt like I had to win a Grand Slam in order to kind of in a lot of ways not be a failure. I felt like I had a lot of doubt and it felt like I needed to win one in order to be proud of my accomplishments,” Keys said.
Madison Keys said that through therapy, she was able to break free from that limiting mindset.
“I had to do a lot of work to kind of get past that because I don’t even think I knew that that was kind of becoming a belief of mine. Therapy . I did a lot of therapy and it was even surprising to me some of the things that were coming up and I was actually saying I was like, ‘Wow I didn’t even know that I had believed that,’” she continued.
The 29-year-old explained that therapy allowed her to play with greater freedom by helping her realize that she was already proud of her career achievements and that she didn’t need to win a Grand Slam in order to "validate" that
“I think it just gave me the ability to play freely and it kind of gave me a little bit more freedom on the court because I got to the point where I was so proud of my career already and I didn’t need to win a Grand Slam in order to validate that,” Madison Keys added.
Reacting to Madison Keys' aforementioned interview, German tennis legend, Boris Becker commended her courage and wrote:
“Honest interview,” Becker posted on X.
Madison Keys on how changing her mindset helped her win Australian Open 2025: “Its been liberating in a lot of ways”
![Madison Keys at the 2025 Australian Open [Image Source: Getty Images]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2025/01/672ae-17381662296198-1920.jpg?w=500)
After claiming her first Grand Slam title at the 2025 Australian Open, Madison Keys reflected on the mental journey she had to undertake in order to achieve this milestone
Keys expressed that playing without the burden of self-doubt and pressure has been "liberating."
“And it was just I don't know how I thought I could have played with all that weight that I was carrying around and having to finally get to the point where I was honest with myself and I put that out there and then I started to actually work through it. Its been just, I think liberating in a lot of ways,” Madiosn Keys said on the WTA Insider podcast.
Before beginning her campaign at the 2025 Australian Open, Madison Keys competed at the Adelaide International. She began by defeating Beatriz Haddad Maia and Jelena Ostapenko in the first and second rounds, respectively
Keys triumphed over Daria Kasatkina in the quarterfinals and then she secured her place in the championship match after her semifinals opponent, Liudmila Samsonova, retired from their match due to an abdominal injury.
In the final, Madison Keys faced off against fellow American Jessica Pegula and emerged victorious with a score of 6–3, 4–6, 6–1 to win the 2025 Adelaide International as well as claim her ninth career WTA Tour singles title. This was also her seventh WTA 500 title.
The American is currently seventh in the rankings due to her Australian Open triumph.