Citing continued success at the French Open, world number 13 Madison Keys said she more enjoys playing on clay than she did earlier in her career.
Speaking after a straight-sets win over Naomi Osaka on Friday to advance to the round of 16, Keys concurred with a questioner that she has come to find the Parisian red clay more attractive.
“It grows on me a little bit more every year,” Keys said, smiling. “This is now my second fourth round here and I feel like I’m playing some pretty good tennis. Overall, I’m pretty happy with my clay court Roland Garros.”
The defending US Open runner-up secured her first big result on clay in 2015, when she reached the final on the green clay in Charleston. She matched that result in Rome a year later, when she made the second week at Roland Garros for the first time.
Still, Keys is still seeking her maiden title on clay, and she has made at least the quarterfinals at each of the other three grand slams.
“I have had good results on clay. I think it’s more my own mentality on clay,” Keys said. “I feel like a lot of times I get too passive or too aggressive, and it’s finding that middle ground where I’m not playing a different way than I like playing tennis.”
That mentality has aided the American, whose Roland Garros seeding matches her ranking, some on the dirt. She made the semifinals in Charleston in April, won a clay-court Fed Cup match later that month and reached the final 16 in Rome. However, Keys suffered first round defeats to unseeded players in Madrid and Strasbourg.
Nevertheless, the 23-year-old, who has spent barely three and a half hours on court without dropping a set through three rounds, believes minor adjustments will continue to help her on clay.
“Finding that middle ground of, OK, maybe I need to make two or three more balls, so remembering great matches that I have had on clay courts but also having some really good matches here definitely gives me the confidence that I’m figuring it out a little bit more every time I’m on the surface,” Keys said.
