"I always hated that" - Madison Keys makes honest admission on one thought about nice people she rebelled against
Madison Keys is still basking in the glow of her Australian Open triumph earlier this year. After chasing Grand Slam glory for years, she finally captured one of the most coveted prizes in the sport. However, while tinkering with her game, she didn't alter her core values to achieve this prize.
Ahead of her campaign at the ongoing BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, Keys had a quick chat with ESPN. The conversation naturally veered towards the biggest title of her career, and the American gave an insight into her mindset.
While Keys wanted to win a Major title, she valued being known as a good human being more than a good player. She didn't want to embrace a "mean" persona to be successful, and if she had to give up being a good person for an achievement, then that trade-off wasn't worth it for her.
"I've always wanted being a good person to be the lead about me. I always rebelled against the thought that nice people couldn't be successful. I always hated that storyline. And I felt like, if winning a Grand Slam meant that I had to change who I was as a person and somehow become meaner or not as nice, then it wasn't really worth it to me, because I don't want to change who I am just to have some sort of achievement that, let's be real, in five years, no one's going to care," Keys said.
Thus, Keys was particularly overjoyed when her contemporaries enthusiastically celebrated her Australian Open win. That validated her feelings about herself, and she thought that was even better than winning the title.
"And so it felt really kind of validating to have the amount of support that I got just because to me, it kind of showed like, 'OK, I think maybe I'm an OK person.' That's really important to me and almost more special than actually winning," she added.
Keys will aim to continue her great start to the season at Indian Wells, where she will commence her quest for her third title of the year. She's on a 12-match winning streak following her title-winning runs at the Adelaide International and the Australian Open.
Madison Keys will face Anastasia Potapova in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open 2025
After a first-round bye, Madison Keys will take on Anastasia Potapova in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open 2025 on Saturday, March 8. This will be her first match since winning the Australian Open in January. The Russian beat Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-5 in the first round.
The two are set to lock horns after a four-year gap. Keys won their first encounter at the Australian Open 2019 in straight sets, and Potapova came out on top when they crossed paths in Dubai a couple of years later.
Should Keys win this match, she could face either 28th seed Elise Mertens or qualifier Kimberly Birrell in the next round. A potential date with 10th seed Emma Navarro is on the horizon for her after that, with third seed Coco Gauff looming in the quarterfinals.