|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
MIAMI OPEN PRESENTED BY ITAúMarch 22, 2017Madison KeysMiami, Florida THE MODERATOR: Questions for Madison, please. Q. Do you consider this a home tournament for you? MADISON KEYS: I definitely love playing in Miami. It was one of the first tournaments that I ever came to to watch just living close growing up in Boca for so long. So it definitely feels like a home tournament to me in a sense. Q. (No microphone.) MADISON KEYS: I've been here a handful of times, but I didn't come down to Key Biscayne or really even Miami other than to just come to watch the tennis. Q. You feel like your second tournament back is going to be a little bit easier than your first tournament back? MADISON KEYS: I think in some ways it's going to be. I feel like I've gotten some of the rust out. I also think the expectation that I have from myself is now a little bit higher. So I'm definitely trying to manage the excitement levels and also just what I'm expecting from myself. Q. In terms of conditions between these two tournaments, what experience do you take from past appearances here that you'll take to translate from one tournament to the next? MADISON KEYS: I think it's always been interesting for me to go from Indian Wells to Miami. They're very different conditions. The ball flies a little bit more at Indian Wells but the courts are slower; here seems like it's a lot faster and the balls maybe don't bounce quite as high. I personally like playing on these courts. I think they kind of suit my game pretty well. I feel like I've played on them just playing Orange Bowl and all of that here. Definitely pretty comfortable on these courts. Q. When you were 16, where did you think you would be at 22? Describe the best and worst parts of where you are at this point in your career. MADISON KEYS: Well, at 16 I was already a professional tennis player so I definitely hoped that I would be here. Yeah, just in general playing the tour, feeling a lot more comfortable playing on the tour. Yeah, it was just something that I always watched these tournaments and want to be seeded and get the bye and be in the second week of slams and all that. So looking back, I'm definitely happy that I've gotten here. Now being where I am, I just want, you know, to be Top 5, to win a slam, all of that. So definitely have bigger goals ahead. Q. I was talking with Jack Sock yesterday about sort of the level of play when it comes to U.S. tennis. Speaking from a general point of view, could you talk about the importance of people like yourself serving as an ambassador for the game in the U.S. and what we can do to improve that level of play and continue with that level of competition? MADISON KEYS: I think there has been a pretty high level of U.S. tennis lately. A lot of the guys did really well last week at Indian Wells. Sam just won Acapulco. There are a lot of women on the tour who are in the top 100, top 50, all that. I think the level has gone up. There is obviously room for improvement, but I think has a whole everyone is working really hard to get to that next level and do all that. So I think it's fun because we get to push each other and see each other do well and support each other. I think that's definitely an element that's helped all of us. Q. You weren't out for that long, but feels like there have been some really good performances from some new players with what Mladenovic has done and now with Vesnina winning Indian Wells. How much were you keeping up with sort of the week-to-week results and maybe matches you might have been watching and what did you make the final over the weekend? MADISON KEYS: To be completely honest with you, I didn't watch much tennis when I wasn't playing. I watched the Australian Open finals, but I don't think there were many people who didn't. I found it difficult to be away from the game, and it was much better just for me to just kind of focus on myself in getting better and getting back. Very happy for Vesnina last week. Her and Sveta played a great match. KiKi has obviously been playing very well. Definitely been a couple players who I've noticed now that I'm paying attention again who have been playing really well. Q. Has that happened to you before where you feel like the field may be a little bit different? What do you make of it right now? MADISON KEYS: I mean, I've played KiKi and Vesnina and Sveta, all of the people who are doing well more consistently now. When you play them, you know at any moment they could play really well; they are all very good players. I think that's talking about a lot of the women in the top 100, 150. There is a lot of depth and a lot of really good player who at any moment can put their games together and go on a string of wins. Q. For the Australian Open final, did you set your alarm for that one? MADISON KEYS: No, I did not. I recorded it, didn't look at my phone, woke up, watched it, and then I went on Twitter. Q. Good choice. MADISON KEYS: Thanks. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|