Embarking on her first WTA Finals tournament at the age of 21, Madison Keys is eager to show the world that she is able to bounce back from her previous mistakes on the tour.
The American seventh seed, who is the youngest player in the draw this year, will play in the first match of the tournament against tricky rival and 2016 nemesis Simona Halep. Keys has faced the Romanian three times this season and suffered a loss in all of them. Their latest clash occurred at the Wuhan Open where Keys’ costly unforced error count of 24 attributed towards a straight sets triumph for Halep.
“I just played (Halep) in Wuhan, I think she played really well there, but I think a big part was that I got really passive and I got behind the baseline and let her start dictating.” Keys told media in Singapore.
“That’s going to be something I’m going to have to step up, and go for my shots in the smartest way I can, and really just believe that I can do it.”
Blessed with some serious firepower in her shot-making, Keys have the ability to trouble the best players on the tour. This style of play has taken the world No.7 to her second WTA title in Eastbourne this season as well as two finals at Premier events in Italy and Canada. There is no denying that Keys is one of the brightest sparks on the WTA tour, but converting her firepower into consistency is still proving to be a challenge. In what is still very much a work in progress, Keys has noticed a sharp improvement in her mentality in recent months.
“You look at my scores and there’s lulls and stuff, but I feel like before it would spiral really quickly,” she said during an interview with wtatennis.com. “Now I’m stopping it and getting better at that. I think it’s that confidence of knowing ‘Don’t panic, you can do this.’ I think the biggest thing is knowing that those thoughts of panic are probably going to go into your brain and just accepting it.
Regardless of her age, Keys is not afraid of becoming a role model for tennis back in her home country. Becoming the first American besides the Williams sisters to qualify for the end-of-year extravaganza since 2005, the 21-year-old hopes she can inspire a new generation of players.
“I just look at it as a great accomplishment and a huge opportunity to go out and play tennis, and have fun and maybe inspire some more young American girls to pick up some racquets.” Said Keys to the Associated Press.
Entering Singapore with a win-loss record of 46-15 this year, Keys’ opening match against Halep will take place on Sunday at 17:00 local time (UTC+08:00).
