TENNIS WTA CINCINNATI – 11th of August 2014. M. Keys d. A. Cornet 6-2, 6-4. An interview with Madison Keys
Q. Did that go as well as you anticipated this week or better than you thought?
MADISON KEYS: Yeah, I mean, I don’t have many complaints about today. Definitely played pretty well and stayed in my game for the most part.
Yeah, there’s obviously a couple of things that I still want to work on and have better for next round, but pretty happy with today.
Q. How much did winning Eastbourne really improve your confidence and kind of put you on a path you wanted to be on?
MADISON KEYS: It was definitely a confidence boost. You know, just playing well for that whole week and just being really solid was definitely a confidence boost.
I feel like I’m going in the right direction and just continuing to work as hard as I can to keep going in that direction.
Q. Your crosscourt forehand seemed to be really strong today. Is that going to be one of your feature things?
MADISON KEYS: I have definitely been working on staying in my cross courts a little bit more, so, yeah, I have been just trying to keep working on it.
Definitely it worked for me today.
Q. So how does one go about duplicating the really good stuff? You know, once you played really well and feel really good about things, can you consciously try and figure out what you did, or is it a matter of just playing and not thinking too much?
MADISON KEYS: I think, for me at least, it’s definitely more on the practice court. You know, having solid practices and making the right decisions on the practice court.
Then being in a match, you know, there’s much less confusion on what I should be doing because I have been doing it so much in practice. It’s, you know, second nature. I’m not overthinking anything.
Q. Obviously there is a focus going into the US Open. Do you sort of sense that at all yourself? Do you think it’s any harder on the guys because… (Indiscernible.)
MADISON KEYS: I mean, obviously you feel, you know, a little bit more attention when you’re in the U.S. and it’s before the US Open.
But, I mean, it is kind of nice being a girl because there are so many of us right now. There is not one sole focus.
Then obviously we have Venus and Serena who are still doing really well.
Personally, I can’t comment on the guys. You’d have to ask them, but I would imagine it’s probably I think the girls are a little bit happier with the situation right now.
Q. Do you have any thoughts on court conditions here compared to the other hard court tournaments you have played this year? Faster or slower? Doesn’t matter?
MADISON KEYS: Personally I thought D.C. was pretty fast. Where were we last week? Montreal?
I think Montreal was a little bit slower but still pretty fast. I think this one is pretty similar to the Open. I mean, it’s a different ball, but for the most part I think they are same as US Open courts.
Q. Do you change your preparation based on those perceptions, or they’re just higher priorities on the list, how a surface affects your game or doesn’t?
MADISON KEYS: I mean, there is a couple of things, you know. Obviously on faster courts a kick serve is not as effective, so you maybe slice some more, things like that.
But for the most part, the game plan stays pretty much the same.
Q. What would be the next jump for you?
MADISON KEYS: I think, you know, it’s just being more and more consistent. Again, you know, having a bad day and being able to figure out how to get through it and figure out how to maybe not be playing well but still manage to figure out a way to get through the match.
Q. The foreign players basically are forced to learn English, but they also speak multiple languages a lot. Americans just seem to be lacking in that department.
MADISON KEYS: Yeah. I mean, well, I know Christina McHale speaks Spanish fluently and she also knows some Chinese. So I strive to be like Christina, but it probably won’t happen.
I mean, European players, I feel like they all speak like 12 different languages, and I struggle with English sometimes (laughter).
But, I mean, I’d love to learn another language, and, you know, I’m definitely going to one day. But, yeah, I mean, I think it’s amazing how I mean, you hear Kuznetsova. She speaks Russian, Spanish, English, probably French and Dutch and whatever else.
Q. Did you take any language in school?
MADISON KEYS: I took seven years of Spanish and I can conjugate a verb, but I can’t speak it.
Q. Would that be your first choice when you learn a second language? Would it be Spanish?
MADISON KEYS: I think so, but then at the same time I want to learn like Chinese so Christina and I can start speaking Chinese in front of another person and just totally confuse them.
