AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 26, 2026

Madison Keys

Press Conference

J. PEGULA/M. Keys

6-3, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Maddie, not the result you were hoping for today, but nonetheless, a good run after a great year last year. What are some of your reflections?

MADISON KEYS: Obviously not the way that I wanted things to end here, but still really proud of myself. I think coming back, being defending champion, dealing with all of the kind of extra pressure and nerves, I'm just really proud of myself for how I handled it.

Just one of those days where I feel like Jess beat me, and I can kind of walk away with my head held high.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. What did you think made the difference, why she was the better player on the day?

MADISON KEYS: I think she did a really good job from the start of just being the one that was dictating and in charge. I felt like if I didn't hit a really good ball immediately, she was in charge of the points.

I was kind of struggling to kind of get that dominance back. Then I feel like especially in the second set I felt like I had some opportunities to break that I wasn't super happy with, just kind of quick errors and not playing the best points in big moments.

Q. You have spoken before about sort of playing a certain way so that you could sort of leave the court without regrets. Did you sort of meet that bar today, do you think, and also through the tournament in terms of -- I think you have used words -- you and Bjorn both have used words like "brave" and "courageous," going out on your own terms. Is that sort of where you are?

MADISON KEYS: I'm really proud of myself for being very clear-headed and trying to problem-solve, and I think overall there were a lot of really, a lot of positives from this tournament, and some kind of strides forward.

I think that I was open to trying new things, 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.

But for all of those things, I'm super proud of myself for. Then there is a handful of things that I'm going to go back and keep practicing, and I have 11 more months of the year to try to implement them into my game (smiling).

Q. You talk about Jess dictating. I have to think with the way you play, I think that's an uncommon feeling. How rare is that? Is that the first time you have felt that way playing against Jess?

MADISON KEYS: I have felt it a bit, obviously when you play some of the people that are just really good ball strikers. I felt like it was obviously a clear tactic of Jess's to try to get ahead in the point early and once she kind of got that control of the point, to keep it.

I feel like when we play matches, that's kind of, it's kind of a game of who can get ahead first and then who can keep it. I felt like she just did a better job today.

It's obviously not something that happens to me that often, but I think in the past there has been times where maybe on the first or second ball I would have done a better job at spreading her a little bit more and being able to capitalize on that. I just felt like some of those early balls today, I just didn't do a good enough job.

Q. We have spoken a lot about you being the defending champion here, but now that it's over, did losing today feel more difficult because you were the defending champion and walking off the court, or is it the same as a normal loss?

MADISON KEYS: Honestly, I'd say it feels way better losing and still being defending champion, because it means you've won. So, again, it's not like the world is ending because I lost today.

Like I said, I have 11 months of the year left, and there is still lots to be proud of, and I'm still going to go out and work on new things and try to implement them in the next tournament.

Obviously disappointed, but I'm really trying to not live and die on every single win and loss at this point in my career.

Q. Jess seemed pretty sure on the court that you were going to eat this pie. Is it a definite red line, you're not doing that, or are you going to give it a go?

MADISON KEYS: A bet is a bet, so I'll do it. I hope it's less gross than I think it's going to be, but we will find out, I guess.

Q. Obviously you're a major winner, and that will never be taken away from you. At this stage in your career, do you start sort of trying to figure out the limits of how much more you can improve, or does it still feel like there is a lot of runway left to do that?

MADISON KEYS: I think there is still a lot of runway for things that I can improve on. I'm definitely finding that there are some things that are harder to kind of change at this point, just because habits are pretty set in their ways.

So I feel like there are some things that I'm still picking up easily and just kind of being open to switching, and then there are some things that have just taken a little bit more time to try to fully figure out.

I think those are the things that I'm still trying to improve, and those are kind of the things that we just keep going back to. When we have the opportunities to practice them, really emphasizing them and harping on them and trying to get better at them.

So there is definitely still, I think, a lot of things that I can get better at, and I think that's still pretty exciting for this point in my career.

Q. After Adelaide last year, I think Jess told you you were going to go all the way here. Is there anything that you've told her here, or do you want to assess her chances at AO '26?

MADISON KEYS: No, I'm not going to say anything, because 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 (smiling).

I don't think she needs any sort of pep talk from me. I think she's very sure of her game and how she's playing. We'll just be cheering her on.

Q. You talked about the extra attention of being defending champion and seeing your face on all the boards. Was there any other experience of being defending champion that you'll look back on fondly?

MADISON KEYS: You know, walking onto the court and just having the fan support that I have had has been incredible, even walking off today. Those are moments that you just dream of as a little kid, so getting to have them is super cool.

Q. Is it hard to manage not living and dying with every result with, like, maintaining a certain level of intensity? Has that been a difficult equation for you to work out? How do you work that out? I think they are two different things, but it's probably harder to do if you're the one actually doing it.

MADISON KEYS: I don't think I would say that your intensity drops at all, because at the end of the day, none of us want to lose. I certainly don't want to be sitting here as the loser, but it's just you walk into every single tournament, and there is only going to be one happy person at the end of every single tournament.

When we play 11 months out of the year, and you play almost every single week, I mean, you can't maintain the roller coaster of the highs of winning and the lows of being devastated every single week.

So I think it's really just trying to kind of have a little bit more of objective perspective of what you did well, what you didn't do well, and just not attaching yourself to -- I guess not attaching your self-worth, I guess, to every win and loss.

Q. There may be only one happy tennis player, but there can be more happy people at the end of a tournament, right?

MADISON KEYS: Yes.

Q. Jess obviously doesn't have the biggest ball speed, but she takes the ball early and takes time away from opponents like that. I'm curious how different does that feel compared to someone who just has a big ball and can take time away from you? How does it feel with her court positioning, the way she does that, I guess?

MADISON KEYS: I think Jess does a really good job at, like you said, taking time away. She redirects incredibly well, so it's kind of a catch-22 sometimes with her, because it's almost like the more pace you give her, the quicker the ball is coming back at you.

I think another thing that I don't think she always gets as much credit for is she hits a lot of very deep balls, so you can't really do a whole lot with them, or if you do, you kind of have to take a little bit more of a risk just because she does a really good job of kind 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.

But in that same token, she also hits very flat and low, so especially on a court like here where the ball is not bouncing super high and the ball is going through the court pretty quickly, it's not super easy to kind of try to lift the ball or slow the ball down, just because it's not exactly the easiest ball to try to hit.

So I think that's always been, I think, in my opinion, her superpower.

Q. In tennis terms, because of defending points, we as journalists think of it as you have a year where you're, like, the champion and whatever, and you've got those points to defend. For you, does this tournament ending, does that close the kind of winning the Australian Open chapter, and you move on to something else, or are you thinking more in terms of just the 2026 season or the next tournament?

MADISON KEYS: I think that that's actually kind of crazy that you guys think like that (smiling). I think for tennis players, it's very much like -- I think a lot of us think way more about the race, and I think we think way more about each individual tournament.

So when I won here, I had, you know, like, 48 hours to enjoy it, and then it's kind of immediately, like, okay, let me use that momentum and I'm going to try to take that into the next tournament.

Not to say that you don't still think fondly of winning the week before. I mean, the reality of it is a lot of times you win on a Sunday and you play on Monday. So as the players, I think we kind of just have to immediately flip to the next week.

So I think a lot of us are much more focused on this year and the next week, and how do I improve from last week, or how do I keep that same momentum going and way less about, well, what did I do last year?

I mean, I think if you're sitting there worrying about all of the points that you're just trying to defend, that would make us even more insane than we already are (smiling).