The coach of Madison Keys believes she can defy the odds and beat Aryna Sabalenka to win the Australian Open.
Bjorn Fratangelo is both husband and coach to the 29-year-old American. He started dating Keys in 2017 with the two getting married last year. During this time, they agreed to form a coaching partnership in 2023. Fratangelo is a former player who defeated Dominic Thiem to win the French Open boy’s title before reaching a ranking high of No.99 on the ATP Tour.
The husband and wife team have got off to a flying start this season with Keys winning 12 out of 13 matches played. She reached the quarter-finals in Auckland before going on to win the Adelaide International where she defeated three seeded players en route to the title. Then at the Australian Open, she knocked out Elena Rybakina and Elina Svitolina before going on to oust Iga Swiatek in a three-set battle on Thursday.
Keys is now through to her first major final in over seven years where she will play the formidable Sabalenka who is seeking a third consecutive title in Melbourne. Something that was last achieved by Martina Hingis. Sabalenka has dropped only one set so far in the tournament.
“She’s No. 1 in the world for a reason. Maybe Aryna is a little more of the polished version of Madison. Similar in size, similar game style. Aryna I think just does things a little bit better over the course of a 52-week calendar year,” Fratangelo told reporters about Sabalenka on Friday.
“What I’ve seen from her now is just what the greats do is they have the ability to raise the level when it matters most. For instance, in that Pavlyuchenkova match. There just wasn’t a doubt in my mind that she wasn’t going to win. That’s kind of how you feel with Novak when he plays most matches, Serena when she played most matches, Roger, Rafa, you know. I think she has that now.
“I think the difference with her and Iga is Iga brings that sort of Nadal mentality towards every single point, where I would say maybe Sabalenka’s mindset is a little more Federer-like: you can throw in some errors, people will hold serve, but at the crunch moments, she’s going to win. That’s what she’s been able to do so well. It’s a credit to her and her team. She keeps improving year after year.”
So how can Keys pull off the upset? Without a doubt, she will be able to match her powerful ball striking as she is one of the biggest hitters on the women’s Tour. Her issue in the past has been trying to find the right balance in her play to avoid making costly unforced errors.
Fratangelo admits there is room for improvement when it comes to Keys’ game but sees it as an exciting challenge for the future.
“She’s pretty raw. A lot of power, a lot of ability. Not a shot that really you would say, Oh, that’s weak. She has everything. She actually volleys quite well when she gets forward.” He commented.
“I’ve always said it’s like you have all these tools to use, but you just have to know which ones to use at which times. I think she’s starting to kind of understand what to do in what moments.
“There’s a lot of room for improvement, and that’s the scary part, in my opinion. To do it at 29, almost 30 years old now, I think is pretty cool as well. It shows that your career doesn’t have to end. You can always look to improve, and that’s what the greats do.”
Keys is the oldest woman to reach an Australian Open final since Serena Williams in 2017. She trails Sabalenka 1-4 in their head-to-head.