Madison Keys shares her views on why people think she’s a clay-court specialist
· Yahoo Sports
Madison Keys moved through to the third round of the Charleston Open after beating Donna Vekic on Thursday.
Visit esporist.org for more information.
The American proved too strong for the Croatian, winning 78 per cent of her first serve points during a 6-2, 6-3 victory.
Keys will now take on Hungarian Anna Bondar in the round of 16. After the match, she caught up with former top-20 player Alison Riske-Amritraj and talked about what she’s working on right now and how she feels about playing on clay.
Madison Keys: ‘I’m not a clay-courter’
Photo by Robert Prange/Getty ImagesUnlike most of the clay-court tournaments on the WTA calendar, Charleston is played on green clay rather than the more common red.
According to New York University, green clay in the United States is made from metabasalt, while red clay comes from crushed bricks.
Speaking about Charleston’s unique surface during her interview with Tennis Channel, Keys said she doesn’t see herself as a natural clay-courter, despite what some people might think.
“You know, I grew up playing on green clay,” Keys said. “I grew up playing in Florida, so I got on it at a pretty early age and I learned how to slide. “
“I feel like that’s always kind of the daunting thing. For everyone when you haven’t been on a clay court and you’re not 100% confident with the movement, it feels like it kind of translates into everything.”
“So I feel like being comfortable in the movement has always been a big thing for me. And then, funny enough, everyone tells me they’re like ‘You’re a clay courter.’”
“I’m not, but okay.”
Madison Keys opens up about the challenge of adjusting to life after her first Grand Slam win
Last year, Madison Keys captured her first Grand Slam title, beating world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the final.
For many, Keys’ triumph felt a long time coming. After all, she remains one of the most talented players of her generation.
However, since winning the title, Keys has endured some difficulty – which she admitted while in conversation with Riske-Amritraj.
“You know, it’s been a little bit of a balancing act,” Keys said.
“It obviously took a lot of work to get to that point to no longer feel like I needed it to kind of justify my career.
“And then I got it. And then… it’s a lot— the kind of immediate questions and what do you do next? What do you want next? And a lot of that pressure kind of came.
“And I think a lot of it came from myself and just kind of finding my new normal has been a little bit more difficult than I maybe anticipated it being.
“And I think I’m finally really kind of starting to find my stride again and feel very comfortable, you know, just readjusting and saying, ‘ok, if I only win one Grand Slam, that’s amazing too.’”
Read more: