Home Comforts Could Be Key for Madison’s Maiden Major

In the long careers of many professional athletes, there are likely to be peaks and troughs – only the absolute elite are immune to fluctuations in form and injury woe.

Sometimes that spark or catalyst that brings about an upturn in fortunes is clear for all to see, and there’s no doubt that Madison Keys’ decision to team up with a new coach – Georgi Rumenov – has paid dividends.

As recently as 2021, the American revealed she felt her game was in a ‘deep, dark pit of despair’, but the link-up with Rumenov at the start of this year has yielded a remarkable uptick in results.

So much so, Keys – a former finalist at Flushing Meadows – looks an appetising pick at 26.00 in the US Open tennis odds given her new-found confidence.

The dust had barely settled on many peoples’ New Year’s celebrations as Keys picked up her first WTA Tour title in more than two years in Adelaide back in January.

And the 27-year-old followed that up at the Australian Open, where she defeated the likes of former French Open winner Barbora Krejcikova before going down in the semi-finals to eventual champion, and home favourite, Ashleigh Barty.

A run to the last eight at Indian Wells continued her fine form on hard courts, and while her clay-court campaign can largely be brushed over, the stodginess of that surface does not allow Keys to get the best out of her power game. The American did still reach the semi-finals of the doubles alongside compatriot Taylor Townsend.

Back up to number 23 in the world, Keys has paid tribute to the positivity brought to her camp by Rumenov. “My coach has really helped. Before every match he says ‘there is no need to, there is no have to. We’re just going to focus on this singular match’." which indicates a willingness on the player’s part to live in the moment and enjoy her tennis again.

Who knows, that could yield the ultimate reward on home soil…

Serving Notice

Given her classy serve and powerful groundstrokes, it’s little surprise that Keys has enjoyed her greatest success on the faster courts.

She has reached at least the semi-finals of five different majors – four of those coming on the hard courts of Melbourne and Flushing Meadows.

The latter saw the pinnacle of Keys’ career – reaching the US Open final in 2017, and while she tasted defeat to Sloane Stephens on that occasion, it was proof that this was where the right-hander’s best chance of major glory lies.

While Rumenov has brought a change in attitude, he has perhaps also been able to get the very best out of one of Keys’ chief weapons – her serve. Load up the WTA Tour’s stats hub and you’ll note that, of players to have contested a minimum of 20 games this year, the 27-year-old has the highest service game win percentage of 78.3%.

Success in hard court tennis revolves around the foundation of a solid serve that yields plenty of easy points, and to that end Keys has the basic building blocks in place for further success in 2022.

She will be hoping to go one better than her Flushing Meadows heartache of five years ago.