Madison Keys has pointed to sports therapy as the reason behind winning her first Grand Slam title at 29 years of age as the American claimed the title at the Australian Open.
It was jubilation for Madison Keys as the American claimed her first Grand Slam title in Melbourne with a three set win over Aryna Sabalenka.
The American edged out the world number one to end Sabalenka’s 20 match winning streak at Melbourne Park.
Speaking after the match Keys admitted she was proud of herself and believes everything happens for a reason, “I’m mostly just really proud of myself to get back to this position and be able to play the way that I played and finish on such a strong note. I’m just really proud of myself. I didn’t always believe that I could get back to this point. But to be able to do it and win, it means the world to me,” Keys started her press conference by saying.
“I think everything kind of happens for a reason. I think for me specifically, I kind of had to go through some tough things. I think it just kind of forced me to look at myself in the mirror a little bit and try to work on, like, kind of just internal pressure that I was putting on myself.
“I felt like from a pretty young age, I felt like if I never won a Grand Slam, then I wouldn’t have lived up to what people thought I should have been. That was a pretty heavy burden to kind of carry around. So I finally got to the point where I was proud of myself and proud of my career, with or without a Grand Slam.
“I finally got to the point where I was okay if it didn’t happen. I didn’t need it to feel like I had a good career or that I deserved to be talked about as a great tennis player. I feel like finally letting go of that kind of internal talk that I had just gave me the ability to actually go out and play some really good tennis to actually win a Grand Slam.”
It’s been a long journey for Keys over the last year as she went through some injuries and tough losses and never thought she would be in this position.
However the world number 14 spoke about maintaining belief in her dream and went into detail about the struggles she had been through, “I honestly think kind of through the last year. Even with the injuries and some tough losses, I just kind of felt like I was kind of starting to find myself a little bit more. I was starting to be a little bit more clearheaded and present on court,” Keys stated.
“I felt like I was starting to get better at problem-solving on court in the moment a lot better. In the past, I kind of felt like sometimes during matches, especially when things started to go awry, I was almost, like, not in my own body and I was kind of looking down at myself. I felt like I couldn’t connect my brain to my body. I felt like last year I started being able to kind of just be more in the moment and take each point by point instead of panicking and getting a little bit too broad.
“I felt like I started playing some good tennis and I started figuring things out when I wasn’t playing great. Then through off-season, I just put in a lot of hard work. I kind of started to see that things were kind of going more the way that I wanted. I just feel like it’s one of those things that slowly keeps building. All of a sudden you’re winning a bunch of matches in Adelaide. Then you’re coming in here. I think winning that match the other night against Iga was really kind of a big hurdle where I felt like… I always believed that I could do it, but to do it that way I think really I thought to myself after the match that I can absolutely win on Saturday.”
There are many reasons why players win Grand Slams at a later age whether it’s better fitness, experience, new routines.
However Keys has praised sports therapy for her recent success and thinks that more people should try it, “Lots of therapy. I really kind of bought into it. I think in the past I had always kind of tried to go the sports therapy route where it was more about routine and controlling things you can control and all of that,” Keys explained.
“I felt like I was always good enough at that, but to really start kind of digging in on how I felt about myself and really being honest with myself about it, it was really hard because I didn’t really want to be the person that felt like I was really struggling, but I was starting to really struggle with it. So just being really honest and actually getting help and actually talking to someone, and not just about tennis but about how I felt about myself.
“I think the more that we talk about actually using it as a tool, I think people will feel more comfortable with it. I do think that the WTA does a great job at having someone at tournaments now that you can go and you can talk to. It’s not only helpful for myself, but I think it’s helpful for a lot of us. I mean, the stigma around therapy in general, not just in sports, I think is slowly starting to go away.
“I think it helps. I think no matter what, no matter what’s going on in your life, you’re going to have moments where things are tough and you need someone to talk to. I think it’s very important. It’s something I will continue to do for the rest of my life. I think if more people do it and more people talk about it, then it just kind of becomes the norm. It’s almost as if you’re going to the doctor. No one bats an eye at that. I think it’s just kind of overwhelmingly needed, I think, for most people.
“I honestly think that had I not done that, then I wouldn’t be sitting here.”
Keys will rise to a new career high ranking of seven in the world as a result of her maiden Grand Slam success.
