Australian Open 2025 champion Madison Keys is departing Melbourne a week earlier than planned, but the world No.9 was stoic after her fourth-round defeat to sixth seed Jessica Pegula.
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“Obviously not the way that I wanted things to end here, but still really proud of myself,” said the American, who turns 31 next month.
“I think coming back, being defending champion, dealing with all of the extra pressure and nerves, I'm just really proud of myself for how I handled it.”
“I can walk away with my head held high.”
Keys said she can take comfort from the way she stayed clear-headed and attempted to problem-solve during the fourth battle of her career against Pegula.
“I think overall there were a lot of positives from this tournament,” she said.
“I was… open to trying to implement some of the things that we have been working on, and that's not always the easiest thing to do especially here, just coming back and having that extra layer of pressure.”
“There [are] a handful of things that I'm going to go back and keep practising, and I have 11 more months of the year to try to implement them into my game.”
On Monday, the powerful right-hander struck 26 winners to Pegula’s 14, but her 28 unforced errors dwarfed the 13 off her countrywoman’s racquet.
“I think she did a really good job from the start of just being the one that was dictating and in charge,” observed Keys.
“I was struggling to get that dominance back, then especially in the second set I felt like I had some opportunities to break that I wasn't super happy with, just quick errors and not playing the best points in big moments.”
“When we play matches… it's a game of who can get ahead first and then who can keep it… she just did a better job today.”
Keys said that the loss – while disappointing - wasn’t as painful because her name will be forever engraved on the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup and because she’s developed a healthier way of digesting triumphs and defeats.
“I certainly don't want to be sitting here as the loser, but… there is only going to be one happy person at the end of every single tournament,” she said.
“[When] you play almost every single week, you can't maintain the rollercoaster of the highs of winning and the lows of being devastated every single week, so it's really just trying to have a little bit more of objective perspective of what you did well, what you didn't do well, and just not attaching your self-worth to every win and loss."
Still, she’ll cherish the experience of competing at AO 2026, her first major as a defending champion.
“Walking onto the court and just having the fan support that I have had has been incredible, even walking off today,” said Keys, whose face illuminates multiple walls and banners across the grounds.
“Those are moments that you just dream of as a little kid, so getting to have them is super cool.”
Last January when Keys defeated Pegula in three sets to clinch the Adelaide International title, Pegula prophesised that her compatriot’s level of tennis would carry her to the AO 2025 crown.
Twelve months on, Keys steered clear of making any predictions about her friend’s title hopes.
“The last time we told Jess that she was going to do well, she didn't do well, so she told us that we're all banned from saying anything,” Keys smiled.
“She's very sure of her game and how she's playing, we'll just be cheering her on.”
Asked to identify what makes Pegula so dangerous, Keys had plenty to share – and Pegula’s potential next opponents may want to take heed.
“Jess does a really good job at taking time away, she redirects incredibly well so it's a catch-22 because the more pace you give her, the quicker the ball is coming back at you.”
“She hits a lot of very deep balls, so you can't really do a whole lot with them or if you do, you have to take a little bit more of a risk just because she does a really good job of pushing people off of the baseline as she's slowly taking her baseline, so you don't really want to just keep firing back at her, because the ball just is going to start coming quicker and quicker.”
“She also hits very flat and low, so especially on a court like here where the ball is not bouncing super high and going through the court pretty quickly, it's not super easy to try to lift the ball or slow the ball down.
“That's always been, in my opinion, her superpower.”