ROLAND GARROS

May 30, 2026

Madison Keys

Press Conference

M. KEYS/V. Mboko

6-3, 5-7, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Maddie, a great match tonight. A very tough match. Just talk us through the battle and what you thought you did really well and were most pleased about.

MADISON KEYS: Super tough match, which was expected. I think mostly really happy with being able to kind of rebound after that second set, and be able to put myself back in the position to win, sometimes is the hardest thing. So I think that's what I'm overall happiest with.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. The second set looked like you were in control. What was the issue, or what changed, I guess, that kind of let it slip away a little bit? Yeah, how did you rebound in the third set?

MADISON KEYS: I feel like when she's losing, she definitely plays a lot more free and really kind of just started taking full cuts. There's a couple of points that I wish I could go back and replay, but in all honesty, it's one or two.

I don't feel like I played too poorly to kind of lose that lead. And then I think I was just really happy with, especially at the beginning of the third, I had a couple of tight service games, and to be able to kind of get through those, I think, were really important.

Then, you know, give yourself a little bit of a comfortable lead again, it's always a little bit nicer (smiling).

Q. It was sort of a rough third round overall for Americans. A lot of Americans made third round and didn't make it out of it. I'm just curious if that has any ambient effect? I know this is an individual sport, but if that sort of changes the vibe or the ride if fewer of your people are around? Maybe not.

MADISON KEYS: I don't think I've thought about it, to be honest (laughing). I think it's always nice when everyone is doing well, but today I feel like there's been so much going on, and there's been some really long, crazy matches. It's kind of been hard to actually keep track of what's happening.

I mean, there's always Wimbledon. The Americans can rebound at Wimbledon (laughing).

Q. It's a little bit similar, but in general, it feels to be a chaotic tournament, whether results-wise, crazy heat, Paris Saint-Germain winning. There's a lot. I'm just wondering, do you feel it as a player, in the air even? Is the energy chaotic? Do you try to get out of here as quickly as possible? How are you managing that part?

MADISON KEYS: I think that, obviously, the fireworks mid-match was a bit chaotic. It's a first.

I think there's just always kind of a feeling that shifts at tournaments. I feel like even last year at Wimbledon, that kind of first round where a bunch of seeds were losing, and everyone was just getting a little bit more nervous.

I think we've seen in the men's scores today that they're all really worried about who is going to be in the finals and not on the match today. So we've seen lots of men's tennis today.

I feel like their anxiety is slowly seeping into everyone's lives, so hopefully they can kind of make it through that and feel a little bit better and stop worrying about the final Sunday and worrying about, you know, today, tomorrow.

But I do think that it's always kind of exciting when crazy things happen. As a tennis fan, it's been fun to watch.

Q. I guess kind of going off that, you kind of had to wait for some crazy things to happen before you could even get on court. I think you were third on. Play started at 11:00. It's now 12 and a half hours later. Did that take an affect on you as you waited throughout the day at all?

MADISON KEYS: It didn't really surprise me. I was kind of expecting long matches today. That's kind of just been the trend. I still stand by ban five sets. I don't ever want to wait for another men's match. I don't think anyone is going to listen to me, though, so I'm sure there will be more.

I think it's really just, at this point, the experience of knowing how to manage your energy, trying to figure out what to do. I think the hardest part is that you have to be ready for a worse-case scenario where, God forbid something happens, and you are going on immediately after a first set or something. You kind of just have to be onsite and ready to go.

So that's a little bit draining, but at this point it's just a part of the job.

Q. Obviously we're writing about the men's side too, most of us. So your sort of analyst hat on, what are you seeing in this men's draw as they react to this big event of Sinner going out and Alcaraz not being here to start with? There's been lots of women's draws that you've been in or you've gone out of that have opened up in different ways. What sort of experience do you feel like you have when a draw seems to get in this mode? Is this a familiar feeling to you? What are the symptoms of look-ahead-itis?

MADISON KEYS: I think that it's definitely -- you can think back to some women's draws that kind of, I don't want to say fell part, because if you are winning these matches, you deserve to be in that position, but the unexpected is happening.

There's definitely been instances where I've gotten way too concerned about this person lost, so now my quarter is open. Then it's, like, well, I have to get to the quarter.

All jokes aside, I do think we're kind of seeing the men deal with it kind of for the first time in a really long time where it feels completely wide open. Like I said, they should really get their heads around it.

I think it will be interesting. It will really just kind of be who can handle the moment, who can figure out how to play their best tennis with way more mounting pressure. I think it's probably maybe a little bit different on the men's side, just because we've had so many long eras of these four people are the only people that we think are going to win.

So to now have literally a whole draw of people that could win makes the sport interesting, at least.

Q. The boys are man-spreading the anxiety. I hope you're able to deal with that. You know how they are. Now that you are kind of doing the podcast and everything, you guys talk about all the news that's in tennis and results and drama, all this sort of stuff. I don't know how much of that is what would normally be happening in the group chats that you would be aware of that you are now just kind of talking about, or are you aware of things that you never would have been aware of before, locked into news that normally during a tournament you wouldn't be reading, if not for the fact that you now kind of talk about it? I'm curious if that's very different or weird for you?

MADISON KEYS: I think the only thing that I pay attention more to now is the men's draw. I've kind of drawn a line in the sand where I was, like, guys, I will not look at the women's draw. I don't ever do it. I'll do a lot of things for the podcast, but I won't do this.

So I think being a little bit more in tune with what's happening on both tours, I think I kind of -- unless it was a big headline, I was way more -- I knew everything that was happening on the women's side, and we were all talking about it. It would be the occasional men's headline would come across my eyes, but I definitely am way more in tune with it now.

But, to be totally honest, most of it we already talk about, so now we're just talking about it publicly (smiling).