American tennis star Madison Keys, 27, described her year as “positive” as she is now looking forward to the 2023 season. This season, Keys has won title and she also made a Grand Slam semifinal at the Australian Open.
After exiting the top-50 following a challenging 2021 season, Keys improved her ranking this year and now she is on the verge of being ranked inside the top-10. For Keys, the season is still not over as she still has to represent the United States at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals next week in Glasgow.
“I had a really great month in Australia winning Adelaide and making the semis at the Australian Open, but the whole year has been really positive and I’m so proud of how hard I worked! I’m excited to keep building on it for 2023 (but after some time off soon lol),” Keys wrote on her Instagram Story.
Keys put the dark period behind her
The 2021 season was challenging for Keys in many ways as the American lost her joy for the game and her results suffered. But winning Adelaide and making the Australian Open semifinal put Keys again in the right mental space.
“Just knowing from what I was thinking about last year and the deep, dark pit of despair that I put myself into because of that, I don’t want to go back to that. I don’t want to let myself borderline hate being on the tennis court and hate competing.
If I let myself think that way, that’s where it goes. Just being really conscious of I went out [in Adelaide] and I just competed. My coach has said before every single match – there is no need to and there is no have to, we’re going out because we want to and we’re going to go out and compete and you’re going to do your best and that’s it. [I’m] going to try to keep that going,” Keys said earlier this year.
