By Bill Simons
MELBOURNE, Australia—Madison Keys is a nice girl. She’s unburdened by the ‘tude or vanity of “look at me” types.
Her toothy grin has an unguarded innocence, on the edge of glee.
She is named for a mermaid, and says stewing over losses ruins all the fun of competing. She chuckles when admitting that her sisters keep her humble, and doesn’t hesitate to tell writers that she likes to lie on floors. Now it seems there are few limits on her ceiling.
With Keys, there’s a jaw-dropping wow factor. Think: “The Next Great One”—well, maybe.
Tennis’ truly elite champions—the crème de la crème—are so gifted that their talent cuts through the fog early. It’s not easy to be a late bloomer in this game.
Like Venus Williams, Keys played her first pro match at 14, and she beat the formidable Russian Alla Kudryavtseva.
Three years ago, Chris Evert said she was the future of tennis.
Still, Madison’s ascent has not been a cakewalk. She’s spent time in the shadows, has confronted teenage doubts, uneasy and insecure. There were injuries and painful losses. She was inconsistent, reaching the third round of a Slam only once. Plus, Sloane Stephens surged, which in a way was good for Madison. She was out of the glare. But she was out of a lot of matches, too.
In this game (whoops, make that: in this life), if you’re not going forward, it seems you are going backward.
For a while, Keys appeared to be treading water. At Indian Wells last March, Lindsay Davenport told me, “We’ll see with Madison Keys. She’s 19, but I feel like she’s going to have to move up pretty soon. She seems like a good competitor. But her shot selection hasn’t been great. If you’re going to play that big a game, you’ve got to get to the ball. She has to start with movement, or she has to make shots when she’s not in position.”
Well, kazam! How things change.
After toughing out a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win over Venus, the icon who inspired her to play tennis, Madison is suddenly in a position to become the first teen to win a Slam since Maria Sharapova in 2004. To achieve this, all she has to to do is add to her wins over Petra Kvitova and Venus and go on and beat Serena and possibly Sharapova.
That’s a big ask. Between them, they have won 31 Slams.
But why not?
Thanks in large part to her new coaching tandem of Davenport (a pioneer of big babe tennis, who faced Venus 27 times) and Davenport’s husband Jon Leach, Madison is much more fit—if not immune to injury—and moving better than ever. Where before she could seem adrift on court, with point construction a bit of a mystery, now she is poised and patient. Sure, pound-and-prevail is her ethos. Stats show that she has the fastest groundies in the game. But she’s learning she can wait, stay within herself, and figure out when to pounce.
Keys said that Lindsay told her that Venus would make some great serves and shots. “When she starts playing really well,” said Davenport, “you can’t panic … just do your best. Constantly try to keep some pressure on her.”
Yes, Madison is young, and there are many nuances she has yet to pick up. But deep into her dreamy coming out party here in Melbourne, it’s clear that she’s overcome one obstacle after another. She rebounded from one set down against Aussie Casey Dellacqua. She outhit a truly elite player, world No. 4 Kvitova, serving out the match with what she called a “weirdly calm” ease.
Staying focused after her heady win over Kvitova, Madison swept through a “trap” match against No. 64 Madison Brengle. Then today she proved she could overcome downturns, erratic play, injuries, and a player whose reputation is intimidating. She downed a streaking legend who hadn’t lost this year,Venus Williams, the icon who 15-years ago inspired a four-year old kid in the Illinois river town of Rock Island to take up this game.
Today, Madison took her time. When she felt a strain in her left thigh, some veteran game management played (dare we note) a key part in her victory. She took a medical time out. Saying “Hold on!” matters.
In the fifth game of the second set, Keys felt a tightness in her left abductor. She couldn’t push off. “It was definitely kind of a flashback to Wimbledon [in 2014],” she said afterward. “[I] have had some problems with that part of my leg. So it was kind of an overwhelming moment … kind of scary. But luckily [I] was able to catch it before I did any real damage … I ignored it at Wimbledon and tore it, which ultimately made me withdraw. At that moment [today], it was kind of a panic … [I thought] ‘I need to get some tape on this so I don’t do that again.’”
Keys had convincingly swept to a 6-3 first-set win, nabbing four games in a row up to 1-0 in the second. Then she came off the boil and began showing signs of pain—and youthful impatience. Down 1-4, she called for the time out. She got a shot for her thigh which quickly proved to be a shot in the arm.
Venus had been on a roll, stepping in and blasting shots and finally building a rhythm. But now Keys counterattacked. She knew she couldn’t run much, so she went for winners. Coming off the time out, she won six straight points, soon tying the set at 4-4.
Venus battled back to win the second set on an emphatic ace, as if to say, “Not so fast, kid. Don’t mess with me—I’m a legend.”
But the kid didn’t care. In a deciding set filled with grand winners, not-so-grand errors, a string of service breaks and many lost opportunities, Keys crushed cross-court forehands and down-the-line backhands. She simply outslugged her foe, who was 15 years older and looked it.
Today, tomorrow’s champion would not be denied by yesterday’s star. Keys’ 30 winners told a tale. Williams managed just ten.
Simply put, the girl from Rock Island managed to pull off a minor miracle.
At crunch time, she was rock solid. Amidst a world of frenzy, she was an island of calm.
But can she beat Serena in the first All-American Grand Slam semi since 2002?
It’s a big ask. Still, don’t bet against the modest maiden of Melbourne, whose toothy grin is just on the edge of glee. She’s on the edge of greatness.
