"I wouldn't be here without them" – Madison Keys on family's sacrifices for her tennis career
WTA
Madison Keys has been a consistent presence on the WTA Tour for many years, and after years of dedication, she has finally achieved her first Grand Slam title with a sensational Australian Open campaign.
Reaching the pinnacle of any sport requires immense sacrifice, and Keys recently opened up about the sacrifices her entire family made to help her achieve her tennis dream.
The career of Madison Keys
Madison Keys’ career on the tennis court is nothing short of remarkable. With nine singles titles on the WTA Tour, she has proven herself to be a model of resilience and determination.
Her strong start to 2025, highlighted by her victory at the Adelaide International, was a clear reflection of her unwavering spirit. However, the most significant milestone in her career came when she finally captured her long-awaited first major title at the Australian Open.
The road to Grand Slam success was not an easy one, and it required great sacrifice—not just from Keys but from her entire family.
The sacrifices made for her dream
During an interview with Andy Roddick on his Served podcast, Keys reflected on the sacrifices her parents made to help her succeed in tennis. She explained how they uprooted their entire lives to move to Florida so she could pursue her passion.
"I think at the moment, you kind of just think, okay, like I'll just go along with this because, I mean, I was 10, so I had no concept of the big picture of what was happening.
"As I've gotten older, the more I've come to think that my parents are insane that they let their 10-year-old just like dictate everyone's life."
Keys then spoke about how incredibly supportive her parents have been throughout her career.
"They were sure; they said she wants to be a professional tennis player, let's just uproot our whole lives and let's go.
"I don't know who let me, as a 14-year-old, decide like, 'Yeah, I'm going to go pro'. So it's hard for me to wrap my brain around to have parents that fully supported that and believed in me."
"I wouldn't be here without them and the sacrifices that they made and, as I said, in some ways, insane trust that they put in me and even the support of Evert Tennis Academy; I needed a scholarship in order to continue going there."
An emotional moment after winning the Australian Open
Keys also reflected on how much her Australian Open victory meant to her family.
"So I mean, there's just been so many levels of people that have believed in me and helped me out and made sacrifices, and I think that's why I think that's part of why I was so emotional with the win.
"It just felt like there had to be so many things that went right for it to all happen and for me to even be in that position."
Keys has had an incredible start to 2025, and she will be looking to carry that momentum forward as she aims for even more success throughout the year.
Madison Keys after winning her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open this weekend. We can achieve more — including in our jobs — when we don’t allow ourselves to be defined by them. pic.twitter.com/vg1xSlyg2y
— Arianna Huffington (@ariannahuff) January 27, 2025
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- No, writer, we were not "stunned". If you knew your business you would have been aware of her statement last weekend re: her knee and retirement. The main take-away here is that Simona went out on her own terms. She surely wanted to play again after WTA & ITIA screwed her out of her final productive seasons. Personally, I believed she was going to make this announcement when I saw the President and his family in their box seats. Good for Simone -- now she can move on to other things as she said she would.
mandoist04-02-2025 - It sounds seriously absurd that in Davis Cup, (unlike Grand Slams such as the Aus Open), medical time outs off court with the medical staff are not allowed?? I mean, if this was an Aus Open match, and the same thing happened to Gurin then, he would have been able to go off court for official medical time out and make an informed decision whether to resume the match or retire. How come such conditions do not apply in Davis Cup?? I mean, there with Davis Cup, it is even more like a soccer match or basketball game in that teams are playing. And so as with those, it ought to be the case in tennis that if a player needs serious medical time out, then one of the other team mates ought to substitute and each team needs to have stand-ins or understudies in case substitution is needed which will be rare but as we can see here, this kind of circumstance fits. But even if the teams do not go down the road of subbing other team mates in, in case of a health issue like the one which played out here, at least, as in the Aus Open and other Grand Slams, there ought to be time-outs with the health professionals and at the conclusion of these time-outs, the particular decision that has been reached between them and the player needs to be taken on board by the umpire. PERIOD.
Sueiyin04-02-2025 - "If Novak did this, he would be defaulted for life. WTF." 🤣 WTF sounds like What Tennis Fury?! What Tennis Flurry??! I mean, se-rious-ly, it was actually the unfairness of the silly umpire's decision that is the issue here! Further, how come it was Gurin & his team who got disqualified? If this kind of thing happens in soccer, it would be the other guy getting the yellow or red card! Because after all, it was the Belgian who's foul it was so why then penalize the opponents for something they didn't instigate? Fouls in both basketball and soccer are read as a hinderance that has been caused by the player who INITIALLY instigated the hinderance. In this case, okay, it is tennis, but while the precise rules are different to either soccer or basketball, the same type of recognition as to whoever instigates a hinderance should apply, and in this case, it was the Belgian player.Sueiyin04-02-2025
- Medvedev talking to his form here. "Some actual deep problem." 🤣😂🤣MrAndreeva03-02-2025
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- Ha-ha-ha... Translation: I'll help as long as I don't have to meet in person and endure the ongoing BS"mandoist03-02-2025
- Well said.mandoist03-02-2025
- So tennisuptodate doesn't even make this event a headline on this site? I had to find it hidden here. Not a word about Yastremska trying to ruin Alexandrova's celebration with her postgame actions?? According to WTA regulations, Yastremska has some punishment coming her way for walking-off court, blowing-off postgame rituals with the winner; including no photos, etc.mandoist03-02-2025
- "So while perhaps the big issue of having to wait for a call-up is there, so is the coaching carousel. .." Well, there you go. Emma's 'career' in one precise sentence. Sponsors bailing-out on her will follow (so far, only Porsche and Dior).mandoist02-02-2025
- Typical narcissistic cynicism of Kyrgios! Very rarely has a decent word to say about anything. He's abusive, jeeringly loud and obnoxious. He needs to be officially called out by both the ATP and ITF for using foul language in public spaces such as social media. The guy's a vampiric hoon who sucks the lifeblood out of tennis by trying to bolster popularity of the good-for-nothing bad boy image. I once admired Kyrgios for his previous good-willed willingness to get honest help for his mental health issues but that all went down the drain once he figured he could reel money in through publicity stunts using the negativity of his problems in such a way as to declare them 'no longer problems' but something which he could become more entangled in just to boost an anti-hero image. Shame on him for turning his back on common human decency and good-willed fraternity. Instead he opts to make a 'hero' out of villany. I'm sorry Nick but u are only doing more harm to yourself in the long run by trying to serve up a bad name for the sport you claim to so proudly represent. Get real mate, tennis is not for hoons, neither is hoon-behaviour the hallmark of sporting integrity. It's an utter disgrace!Sueiyin02-02-2025
