Madison Keys Resurgence Is Amazing To Watch
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00:00 Few years ago, the biggest question in the tennis world was whether America would produce
00:05 any other tennis player matching the caliber of Williams sisters.
00:09 But then came another big female tennis name from America, after playing Whom, Serena Williams
00:16 had to say that it was an honor for her to play someone who will be number one in the
00:21 future.
00:23 Welcome to the Rich Rabbit and today we'll be talking about the life journey of Madison
00:27 Keyes.
00:29 Keyes was born on February 17, 1995 in Rock Island, one of the Quad Cities in northwestern
00:36 Illinois.
00:37 Her parents, Rick and Christine, are both attorneys, and her father was also a Division
00:42 III All-American college basketball player at Augustana College.
00:49 Keyes' passion for tennis started at a young age.
00:52 Her interest in the sport arose from watching Wimbledon on television when she was just
00:57 four years old.
01:00 Keyes asked her parents for a white tennis dress, like the one Venus Williams was wearing,
01:06 and sure enough, they offered to get her one if she started playing tennis.
01:11 Her father said that after this bargain, all Madison did was try to hit balls into the
01:16 next yard home runs.
01:20 Keyes started playing tennis at the Quad City Tennis Club in Moline.
01:24 She began taking lessons regularly at seven and began competing in tournaments at the
01:29 age of nine.
01:32 Keyes turned pro in February 2009 on her 14th birthday.
01:38 She made her WTA Tour debut a few months later at the Ponte Vedra Beach Championships, having
01:44 only played in one previous professional tournament, where she lost her only match.
01:50 In her debut, she defeated world number 81, Ella Kudretseva, in straight sets.
01:56 At the age of 14, she became the seventh youngest player ever to win WTA Tour level match and
02:02 the youngest since Martina Hingis in 1994.
02:06 Top seed Nadia Petrova knocked Keyes out of the tournament in the next round.
02:12 Due to the tour's age restriction policy, she was unable to enter another WTA tournament
02:17 that year.
02:18 Keyes began 2013 ranked number 149 in the world.
02:23 Having made it to relatively few WTA main draws in previous years, Keyes played only
02:28 tour level events in 2013.
02:31 At the Australian Open, she beat Casey Delaqua and number 30 Tamira Pasek to reach the third
02:37 round, before crashing out to number 5, Angelique Kerber.
02:43 With this success, she entered the top 100 of the WTA rankings at number 81, a month
02:49 before turning 18.
02:52 In the clay court season, Keyes reached another quarterfinal at the Charleston Open, before
02:57 losing to Venus Williams in their first ever meeting.
03:01 At Wimbledon, she used a second consecutive third round appearance to break into the top
03:06 50.
03:07 At the Australian Open 2014, she was upset by Chang Chieh in the second round.
03:13 At the French Open, she draws Sarah Irani, a clay court specialist, and lost in the first
03:19 round.
03:20 Keyes maintained that form to reach the third round at Wimbledon.
03:25 But she was forced to retire due to a leg injury.
03:30 In the off-season, Keyes began working with former world number one, Lindsay Davenport,
03:35 as well as her husband, John Leach.
03:38 With her new coaching team, Keyes made her breakthrough into the upper echelon of women's
03:42 tennis at the Australian Open 2015.
03:46 She upset reigning Wimbledon champion and number 4, Petra Kvitva, in straight sets in
03:51 the third round.
03:52 In the quarterfinals, Keyes got a second opportunity to face off against Venus Williams, who was
03:58 ranked number 18 in the world.
04:01 And guess what, she defeated Venus for the first time in a tight three-set match, despite
04:06 injuring her left thigh in the middle of the second set.
04:12 And this set up a clash with world number one, Serena Williams, in the semifinals.
04:17 After a very tight first set, Keyes ultimately lost in straight sets.
04:22 After the match, Serena, who eventually went on to capture the title, spoke of a bright
04:27 future for Keyes.
04:30 In the first major semifinal, Keyes climbed into the top 20 for the first time.
04:35 At the US Open, Keyes advanced to the fourth round, where she was defeated by Serena Williams
04:41 at a major for the second time that year.
04:45 She reached the fourth round at the Australian Open 2016, but lost to qualifier, Shang Xue,
04:51 in a match where she was ahead until she started to experience pain in her leg in the second
04:56 set.
04:58 At the French Open, Keyes won her first three matches in straight sets, before unexpectedly
05:04 falling to unseeded Kiki Burtons in the fourth round.
05:09 Seeded number nine at Wimbledon, Keyes advanced to the fourth round, where she was defeated
05:14 by Simona Halep, despite winning the first set.
05:18 Her next tournament was the Olympic singles event in Rio de Janeiro.
05:23 As the number seven seed, Keyes reached the semis where she was eliminated by Kerber.
05:28 She then lost the bronze medal match to Kvitva in three sets, narrowly missing out on a medal.
05:35 At the US Open, Keyes was able to reach the fourth round, after a miraculous comeback
05:40 against teenager Naomi Osaka in a third-round match.
05:44 She managed to overcome a 5-1 deficit in the third set.
05:49 But she then lost to Caroline Wozniacki, thereby exiting all four Grand Slam tournaments that
05:54 year in the fourth round.
05:57 Keyes finished the year ranked number eight in the world.
06:02 In doing so, she became the first American other than the Williams sisters to finish
06:07 a year with a top-ten ranking since Lindsay Davenport in 2005.
06:13 Despite her successful year, Keyes ended her partnership with coach Hogstad in November.
06:19 At the US Open, she upset fourth seed Alina Svitolina to join fellow Americans Coco Vandeve,
06:26 Sloane Stephens and Venus Williams in the quarterfinals.
06:29 Interestingly, all four of them would win their matches to set up an all-American semifinal.
06:36 This was the first time four Americans made the semifinals at a major since Wimbledon
06:41 in 1985.
06:42 At the semifinals, Keyes defeated Vanderve for the third time in little over a month,
06:48 losing just three games.
06:51 Sloane Stephens won the other semifinal.
06:54 These victories made Keyes and Stephens the first Americans other than the Williams sisters
06:59 to reach a women's Grand Slam tournament final since Lindsay Davenport in 2005.
07:06 Bidding to become the first American US Open champion other than the Williams sisters since
07:11 Davenport, Keyes lost in the final to her close friend in straight sets.
07:17 At the first major of 2018, Keyes defeated Caroline Garcia to reach the quarterfinals
07:22 of the Australian Open for the second time.
07:26 At this round, she lost to Angele Kerber, one of her most difficult opponents.
07:31 At the French Open, Keyes produced the best result of her career at the tournament.
07:37 She reached the semifinals without dropping a set to set up a rematch of the 2017 US Open
07:43 final with Sloane Stephens.
07:46 This was the first all-American semifinal at the French Open since 2002.
07:53 But Keyes again lost to Stephens in straight sets.
07:56 She only played one grass court event, losing in the third round at Wimbledon.
08:02 At the US Open, Keyes made it to the semifinals while dropping just one set.
08:07 However, she was unable to reach the final for a second straight year after losing to
08:12 the eventual champion Naomi Osaka.
08:16 Keyes could not convert any of her 13 breakpoints during the match.
08:22 The American began the next season at the Australian Open, where she lost in the fourth
08:26 round to Alina Svitolina.
08:28 However, she continued her clay court success at the French Open, where she lost in the
08:33 quarterfinals to the eventual champion Ashley Barty.
08:37 She reached the fourth round of the US Open, establishing a career-high nine-match winning
08:42 streak before losing to Svitolina for the second time at a major that year.
08:49 Seeded 10th at the Australian Open 2020, Keyes recorded straight set victories in her first
08:54 two matches, but fell to Greek star Maria Sakkari in the third round.
09:00 Due to several of the top 10 players withdrawing from the US Open citing safety concerns, Keyes
09:06 was seeded 7th and considered a serious contender for the title.
09:11 She breezed through her first two matches, winning in straight sets.
09:15 Unfortunately, in the third round, after losing the first set tiebreak against Elise Cornet,
09:22 Keyes was forced to retire from the match due to a neck injury.
09:26 This marked her earliest exit from the US Open since 2014.
09:31 In 2021, Keyes reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, defeating 13th seed Elise Mertens
09:37 in straight sets.
09:39 She made her debut at the US Open in mixed doubles with Bjorn Fratangelo, whom she began
09:44 dating four years ago.
09:47 Unseeded at the 2022 Australian Open, she reached the semis for the second time.
09:53 She lost to world number one and eventual champion Ashley Barty in the semifinals.
09:59 Talking about her personal life, Keyes has been sponsored by Nike since she was 14 years
10:05 old, with the brand providing her with clothing and shoes.
10:10 Wilson is Keyes' racket sponsor.
10:13 She helped launch the Wilson Ultra line of rackets in 2017, and specifically uses the
10:18 Ultra Tour model.
10:20 In 2018, Keyes partnered with the contact lens brand Accuvue.
10:26 Keyes is the first American ambassador for the French water company Evian, which Maria
10:30 Sciarra Poa also endorses.
10:33 And with that, it's time for a wrap, but we sure hope that you liked our video and found
10:38 it informative.
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10:51 And I'll see you in the next video.