April 11, 2015
A Post-Match Interview With:
MADISON KEYS
Madison Keys defeats Lucie Hradecka
6-1, 6-4
Q.
Madison,
it's
quite
an
accomplishment to go four matches and to
never been broken on your serve and today
you had seven aces. Can you go through the
importance of your serving here in this
tournament, why it's been so successful here?
MADISON KEYS: I think I've just, you
know, had really good placement, and haven't
really focused on, you know, hitting aces so much
as just, you know, hitting my right spots and trying
to believe the point off of those.
Q. You were so dominant in that first
set. Did you come into the match expecting for
your game to be, I mean, that good?
MADISON KEYS: I was really just going
out and, you know, trying to focus on my game and
know what I was trying to do. And it's always great
when you can get off to a good start. And after
that I kind of just kept going with it.
Q. Did you expect to make a clay court
final this year?
MADISON KEYS: No.
Q. So how surprised are you with this
whole week? I mean you know you're pretty
good at tennis, but maybe people didn't expect
clay to be your first final of the year.
MADISON KEYS: Yeah. I mean definitely
kind of surprising. I don't think the grass final
surprised people as much, but you know, just really
happy. I think it's pretty good transition from hard
court to clay court. And you know, hopefully I can
just keep this up and it'll just kind of continue on,
on to the red clay.
Q. What have you learned about your
game, I guess, from these results on this
surface?
Transcripts Provided By:
Kelly McKee Dorsey, CCR, RPR, CRR
kadmcr@yahoo.com
Twitter handle: @reporterkel
MADISON KEYS: You know, just that I
can, you know, play a consistent game, but also
still be aggressive. And you know, not rushing
things, but also not completely changing into a
clay-courter.
Q. Madison, setting the serve aside,
what were you particularly pleased with today
in your game?
MADISON KEYS: I think, you know, just
staying in cross-court rallies was definitely my
biggest thing. You know, staying in the rally and
then changing direction on the right one. And then
I think, you know, just moving forward and kind of
taking time away.
Q. Why do you not want to stay in
cross-court rallies all the time?
MADISON KEYS: Because that would be
far too boring, and the unforced errors that come
when you change down the line on dumb balls are
way more fun.
Q. The sarcasm, still have it, huh?
MADISON KEYS: Yeah. It's going to bite
me in the ass one day, but it's all right.
Q. But you're going to get a big step up
regardless of who wins this match in terms of
the level of competition compared to what
you've already done, so does that concern
you? What's your thought going into that
final?
MADISON KEYS: I mean Andrea has
never lost a match here, so she's probably going to
go into that pretty confident. And Angelique is
obviously a great player. She's made tons of
finals. She's won a ton of matches. And you
know, no matter what, it'll be a tough match, but at
the end of the day I'm more concerned about
myself. I've been really happy with what I've been
doing, and tomorrow, win or lose, if I can walk off
the court and think, you know, I've improved, then
that's a good day.
Q. Aside from lifting the trophy and
match point maybe, what do you remember of
that Eastbourne final?
MADISON KEYS: I remember that last
game where I think I had like 27 match points, and
she kept serving out wide and I kept missing the
ball in the middle of the net. That's pretty much it.
Q. It was a good match. It was a
three-set battle and all that. But just the balls
missed in the middle of the net.
MADISON KEYS: Well, every single time
she was going to serve on that side, I'm like, okay,
she's going to serve it out wide. Cover it. And
then she would hit it and then I would miss it and
be like, okay. Totally didn't do what I just told
myself to do.
But no, I mean I remember the first set
being really good and I remember the second set
backing off a little bit and she kind of was able to
dictate a little bit more and then I remember the
third set was a battle back and forth. So I mean if
she wins today, it'll definitely probably be a battle
again.
Q. In terms of how she played you that
day, what were you surprised with? What
caused you problems, other than the serve out
wide in the final game?
MADISON KEYS: I think she, you know,
was definitely taking time away. She was able to
step in and kind of get me on the move, and I think
the whole third set was kind of, you know, who
could get ahead of the point first.
Q. Lucie sent a little overhead and you
jumped up in the air and gave this fabulous,
fabulous screen, best thing I've seen in years.
It was very well done.
MADISON KEYS: Thank you. Yes.
Q. So do you get motivation from that
type of thing where you scream, frustration or
anger? Does that like make you bear down
more?
MADISON KEYS: It was more a scream
of frustration, because I felt like I had the whole
court on that put-away ball, and I kind of hit it right
to her. And I'm, you know, not the best at hiding
my emotions. So for me it's just, you know, that's
just how I deal with things. It's how I let things out.
And right then it was I was frustrated and I let it
out, and then, you know, it kind of just let me
Transcripts Provided By:
Kelly McKee Dorsey, CCR, RPR, CRR
kadmcr@yahoo.com
Twitter handle: @reporterkel
refocus and move on. And so for me, you know,
letting out a scream or laughing or making fun of
myself is kind of my way of moving on from what
just happened.
Q. So what have the messages been
from Coaches Davenport and Leach this week?
MADISON KEYS: I just got a long one
from Jon, you know. Like more shape on the
backhand. You know, good serving. Keep up the
return games. And then Lindsay has mostly been
great job, good fighting. Great attitude. I mean
like I said at the very beginning of the week, they
said all we care about is your attitude and how
you're trying to play the game. And if you're doing
that, then win or lose, we're happy.
Q.
Does this week increase your
expectations for the rest of the clay season?
MADISON KEYS: I expect to win the
French Open now, yes. (Laughs). No. I just -- I
mean it's definitely I can play on clay, but then
again, green clay and red clay are very different.
So it's still, you know, just working on my game
and working on being more consistent and playing
the right shots, and whether it's on, you know,
grass, hard court, clouds, whatever, it has to be the
same thing.
Q. Aside from the clay success, how
much do you take away from this week just
being able to get the business done, playing
players who are ranked below you, not taking
the circuitous root towards wins, things like
that. It's been very business like for you.
MADISON KEYS: Yeah. It's definitely get
on the court, play, be focused; don't have the ups
and downs, and that's definitely some
improvement. And you know, I'm pretty happy with
myself about it.
End of Interview