Madison Keys Continues Her Thunder Down Under In Advancing to 3rd Round of Australian Open
Wild Card Wunderkind Making Thunder Down Under
6-2, 6-1. 56 minutes. Madison Keys looked like a giant and a #1 seed in taking care of 2nd round opponent Tamira Paszek last night. Keys, who won a second straight wild card into the Australian Open main draw, is on to the 3rd round of a Grand Slam for the second time in the teen’s nascent pro career.
With that, she’ll face 5 seed Angelique Kerber in the 3rd round. Kerber is no slouch, but this is another match that Madison has a reasonable chance to win. Keys has been working on hitting ”a ton of out-wide forehands” all winter and her training has apparently paid off.
Madison Keys To 2nd Round of Australian Open
USTA Australian Open Wild Card Playoffs winner Madison Keys won her first round match in Melbourne against Australian counterpart Casey Dellacqua by a count of 6-4, 7-6(0). Dellacqua is a rising star of Australian tennis who has been graced with wild cards from her home nation, but the battle of the future superstars went to Keys last night. The fact that Keys was able to overcome the heavy crowd favorite in the first round gives her valuable experience heading into the future of this Open and the next.
Keys sees Austria’s Tamira Paszek in the second round. The 30 seed in the tournament, Paszek is a powerful player whose recent inconsistency gives Keys a reasonable shot of advancing to the third round of a Grand Slam for the second time in her very young career.
Hopefully, this match will be played either early or late in Melbourne so East Coast fans can have a live look. After she beat Dellacqua, I wouldn’t expect organizers at Melbourne Park to do us any favors.
—S. Fogleman
Rhyne Williams, Madison Keys Ready To Make Thunder Down Under @AustralianOpen
Rhyne Williams and Madison Keys are packing for the Southern Hemisphere this weekend, where they’ll compete and tune up before the Grand Slam of the Pacific beginning January 14 in Melbourne Park. I was able to ask them a few questions on Thursday before they headed out as part of a USTA conference call with USTA Public Relations Director Tim Curry.
TIM CURRY: Thanks, everyone, for joining us today. Thanks to Madison Keys and
Rhyne Williams for their time. We wanted to give you both an opportunity to tell your story a little bit to the media in advance of your trips to Australia. Madison and Rhyne won the USTA Australian Open Wild Card Playoffs last weekend in Atlanta. For Madison, it’s her second win in a row at the Australian Open Playoff. For Rhyne, it will be his first appearance at a Grand Slam other than the US Open where he qualified this year and played Andy Roddick. It is two consecutive slams for him. Rhyne is a former Tennessee Vol and was the NCAA runner-up two years ago as a sophomore. Why don’t we start off a little bit with both players talking about their run at the tournament and the opportunity they have now in Australia. Madison, do you want to talk about playing the tournament the second time and winning it.
MADISON KEYS: Yeah, it was a great opportunity that I was able to play it again. Just really excited to go play Australia again and hopefully do a little bit better than I did last year. Just overall really happy and excited.
TIM CURRY: Rhyne.
RHYNE WILLIAMS: Yeah, really thankful to the USTA for the opportunity to play this tournament. It’s a relief to win it and not have to worry about playing the qualifying down there. I know how hard it is to get through the qualifying. I’m really happy and excited to be in the main draw of Australia. It’s going to be my first trip down there. Looking to have fun with it and go out there and do my best.
TIM CURRY: We’ll open it up now for questions for Madison and Rhyne.
Q. (Tennis East Coast) Rhyne, you played more sets in Atlanta last week than any other player, be it male or female. I’m wondering what, if anything, you’re going to do to train for increased match endurance during your time in Melbourne.
RHYNE WILLIAMS: Well, I’ve been doing that all December to get ready for Australia. We’ve been hitting the fitness extremely hard. The off-court training has been pretty brutal. I’m a little beat up. I’m heading back to Knoxville today for a few days to rest up and get ready to head down there. I’m leaving Sunday. Hopefully I can get the body ready for that. I’m starting in Brisbane. Looking to start off on a good note. But we’ve been training extremely hard
down here. It’s really warm, just like Australia, maybe not quite the same temperature, but this is just about the best place you can train, Boca Raton. We’ve done a great job this off-season.
Q. (Tennis East Coast) We talked about your family’s tennis legacy. What was the reception from your family after your big win in Atlanta?
RHYNE WILLIAMS: Well, they were extremely happy for me. I’m going to see them all this afternoon. I’m sure they’re fired up to have me back. I’m really excited to be home, kick back and relax for a few days.But I got calls from my grandfather and my uncles, texts from everyone just saying congratulations. But it’s just the beginning. I haven’t done anything yet. I just want to follow up on it.
Q. Rhyne, I know that you just mentioned about your off-court fitness training. I was wondering if you could go into a little bit of detail about what you actually do, what you feel like the most maybe three important things that you need to keep doing to keep up your fitness level. What do you actually do in the gym?
RHYNE WILLIAMS: Well, I usually don’t pick up the weights too much, too often. Maybe a couple times a week, but not too heavy. Tennis is mostly a lungs and legs sport. It’s turned into that. We do a lot of stuff on the field, on the soccer field, a ton of endurance runs. We did that for the first three weeks. This past week we’ve done a lot more agility and quickness, running with cones and ladders, footwork drills. The main thing for the first part of the
off-season was legs and lungs. We really worked extremely hard and put in a lot of hours. I just need to keep making good decisions with my eating habits and getting good rest, stuff like that. Those are the main things we’ve focused on.
Q. When you say ‘a lot of hours,’ about how many hours of off-court training do you do in a week?
RHYNE WILLIAMS: Per day we were doing an hour and a half of tennis and then two hours in the gym, then two hours in the afternoon on the field incorporating abs, stretching, shoulder, stuff like that. It’s a lot of long days.
Q. Madison, I read that you’re leaving to Australia on the 23rd, in just a few days. Tell me if that is true. How is it to miss Christmas with your family? Does it just come with the territory of being a professional tennis player?Also last year you had a tough first-round match in Australia. Tell me about that experience and how will that experience help you this year going into the Australian Open.
MADISON KEYS: I’m going to New Zealand the 23rd, and we land the 25th. I’m kind of sad that I don’t get to spend Christmas with my family, but we’re going to do a Christmas before I leave. It kind of comes with the territory. I mean, you’re pretty used to being gone on holidays and your birthday, so you’re kind of used to it.
Last year I kind of got my butt kicked by Zheng Jie. Obviously, I wish the outcome was a little bit better. But this year hopefully I can go down and do better.
Q. Madison, you trained for a long time at the Evert Academy. You’re still working at the USTA. Can you talk about that arrangement and talk about the fall. You won a couple of USTA Pro Circuit challengers, had a strong fall. I’m wondering if you feel like some pieces of your game are starting to come together now.
MADISON KEYS: Yeah, I trained at Evert Tennis Academy for like eight years. About a year and a half ago, two years ago, I started training with the USTA, and I’m still there. It’s basically the same center, but it’s just different coaches and different people I hit with.
Q. Talk about your fall. You had strong results on the circuit. Talk about your game, if you feel like those pieces are starting to come together for you and why.
MADISON KEYS: Yeah, I had a really good end of the season. I won a challenger in Canada, got to the semis of another one, then I won a $75K Pro Circuit event in Phoenix. It was a good way to end the season for me. I came off the year feeling really confident, having a good idea of how I wanted to play. So I think my game is kind of coming together a little bit better. I’m kind of understanding it a little bit. So I’m really excited just to go down to New Zealand and Sydney, the warmup tournaments for Australia, just really try to keep the moment going.
Q. When you say you understand your game better, what does that mean exactly?
MADISON KEYS: I feel like when I’m hitting good shots and stuff, I’m kind of moving forward a little bit more, looking for short balls, starting to come to the net a little bit more, knowing how to use my serve on big points. I’m understanding how to play tennis a little bit better.
Q. Rhyne, can you talk a little bit about playing for Tennessee and more importantly the importance of college tennis.
RHYNE WILLIAMS: Playing at Tennessee, those were probably the best two years of my life. Extremely fun to change it up and play for something bigger than yourself for a change. Tennis is a very individual sport. Playing with a group of guys that you love, it’s an incredible experience. I got a whole lot better in college. Our coaches really pushed me. I feel like our team pushed each other. We had a blast. Just an incredible couple years. We got a little unlucky in the championship match. But we really enjoyed every minute of being there. It was sad to leave but I feel like I did it at the right time. My buddy Tennys Sandgren and I both ended up leaving at the same time. We’re living together in Boca. We’re doing the whole traveling thing together. Playing for Tennessee was just absolutely incredible.
Q. So many guys for years skipped college tennis altogether. Now you have many guys playing college tennis. Is college tennis a viable alternative before turning pro?
RHYNE WILLIAMS: Absolutely. There are several programs that can get you ready for pro tennis afterwards if that’s your goal. It’s just a great way to kind of get away from the pressure of turning pro at such a young age. I certainly needed it. I wasn’t really enjoying tennis from age 16 to 18. I needed to switch it up a little bit. I went to school and got away from the pressure of pro tennis. It was just a great way to learn, mature, get ready to commit to being a pro.
Q. (Tennis East Coast) Madison, I want to talk more about your Christmas plans. I understand that you’re going to New Zealand with some other reindeer from America this year. I wanted to ask you if you’re going to be hitting with or practicing with them Down Under?
MADISON KEYS: I think there’s a couple of us on the same flight from L.A. to New Zealand. Shelby Rogers, Lauren Davis, Maria Sanchez, Grace Min will all be there at the same time. I’m sure we’ll do something, go to dinner together so we’re not completely alone on Christmas.
Q. There’s your real family and then your New Zealand family?
MADISON KEYS: You have your real family and then your tennis family.
Q. (Tennis East Coast) As far as their chances Down Under, are you optimistic about them qualifying?
MADISON KEYS: Yeah, I’m very excited for all of us going down there. I think we’ve all worked very hard this off-season. I think everyone has put in the work. I think that it’s going to be a good couple weeks for us.
Q. Madison, can you follow up on your goals. You repeated the wild card playoff from last year, which is a pretty high, intense winner-take-all situation. How does that change your expectations going into next season and what are your expectations now that you feel like your game is coming together a bit more? What are you expecting out of yourself this coming year?
MADISON KEYS: Winning the wild card doesn’t really change my goals or expectations for next year. I’m still going to New Zealand to play the qualifying in Auckland. Getting into the main draw of the Open let me play Sydney before the tournament. I kind of want to try to keep what I have going, try to keep it going. You know, I just want to be happy with how I’m playing. So far I am. So if I can just keep this going…I think my biggest goal is maybe by Wimbledon or US Open being able to make main draw by myself, which would be top 100, would be incredible. That’s probably the biggest goal I have for the next year.
Q. What is the biggest difference for you in making that transition from the juniors to the pros?
MADISON KEYS: The first couple years were definitely hard especially because you don’t have a full schedule so you’re kind of bouncing back and forth from juniors to pros. You don’t always play the best. I think being able to play all pro tournaments has really helped me kind of find my game a little bit more. I’ve been working really hard, done lots of fitness. I’m kind of playing more like a pro instead of a junior, playing smarter, being more aggressive, just being in better shape. I think that’s just really helped me out.
Q. Have you stopped growing? How tall are you now?
MADISON KEYS: I’m like 5’10″ and a half and I’m done growing.
Q. Did you add or lose body weight in the training this off-season?
MADISON KEYS: I think I pretty much maintained it. I don’t think I really gained or lost any weight.
Q. But you feel fitter, leaner, stronger?
MADISON KEYS: Yeah, for sure.
Q. Rhyne, I would like to ask you who is your main coach, who have you been working with at Boca, and who is your main fitness coach?
RHYNE WILLIAMS: My main coach is my cousin, Christopher Williams. We started in July. Been working with him since. He moved down to Boca Raton. He currently lives with Tom Gullikson and Troy Hahn. They work with the USTA on the girls’ side. He travels with me everywhere I go. We work together every day. My fitness coach is Gabriel Echevarria. He is employed by the USTA. He is from Argentina originally and worked in Barcelona before. I think he’s been down in Boca for close to a year, maybe eight months or so. He’s been kicking my butt this off-season.
Q. Madison has been down there already. This is going to be your first visit to Australia. What do you know about the history of Australian tennis? It’s one of the great tennis nations. For instance, have you heard of Harry Hopman? Do you know who he was?
RHYNE WILLIAMS: I do not, sadly.
Q. Actually, he worked in Florida as a coach and was responsible for Australia winning 12 Davis Cups out of about 15 in the 1950s and 1960s. You’ll learn a lot about the history of Australian tennis. Presumably you’d like to play on Rod Laver Arena if you get the chance?
RHYNE WILLIAMS: Well, yeah, in one of the later rounds. If I’m there first round, I would be playing Novak or Roger. That would be a pretty tough draw. It was an ultimate experience playing on Arthur Ashe Stadium this year against Andy Roddick. Yeah, I’ll probably definitely soak that up. It would be incredible to play on Rod Laver. Any court I’m on, it’s going to be incredible. I can’t wait to get down there and get started. I’ve worked hard. We’ll see how I play down there.
Q. Rhyne, you qualified for Indian Wells but spent most of the time on the USTA Pro Circuit. I notice that the final of the playoff was best-out-of-five sets. Talk a little bit about the Grand Slam experience compared to the smaller tournaments that you play in, the difference in playing a best-out-of-five match.
RHYNE WILLIAMS: Well, I’ve only played two best-out-of-five matches in my life. One was against Andy and one was in the final of the wild card tournament. It’s definitely a lot different. You got to try to pace yourself. You don’t want to waste any energy early in the match. Obviously you want to try and get that first set. It’s a huge relief to get that first set. I think I’ve seen a stat that the player that wins the first set wins around 70% of three-out-of-five matches. You really want to focus on winning that first set, trying to conserve energy because you know at any point it could turn around and you could be going for four or five hours. So that’s a lot different than the normal two-out-of-three sets you’re going to play on the USTA Pro Circuit.
Q. (Tennis East Coast) Rhyne, who are you traveling with? Are you traveling with Tennys Sandgren?
RHYNE WILLIAMS: Tennys will be making the trip. But I’m traveling with my coach Christopher Williams. It will be he and I sharing rooms and doing all that. But, yeah, Tennys is my best friend, so he will be down there. We of course hang out every day, all that. He’ll be going by himself. Of course, we have the Vol team. We love to hang out. We’ll be seeing each other down there for sure.
Q. (Tennis East Coast) Do you feel optimistic about the qualifying chances of your tough opponents in Atlanta?
RHYNE WILLIAMS: Absolutely. I know every American has been working hard this off-season. Tim Smyczek has been playing insane tennis to end the year. He kicked my butt the last couple times we played at the end of the year. He still played incredible in the final of the wild card tournament. Denis Kudla is a machine. So is Daniel Kosakowski. They definitely have a great chance of qualifying. I know Denis has actually done it already once actually down in Australia, I think it was last year. I’m definitely pulling for them. We’re all good buddies and I wish them the best.
Q. Speak a little bit about your experience with the U.S. Davis Cup team this year. I know you got a lot of work with those guys when you were with them. Talk about what that time with them was like and any advice Captain Jim Courier gave you.
RHYNE WILLIAMS: I got a great opportunity to go to Monte-Carlo with them to one of the coolest cities on earth. It was an incredible experience. The place is beautiful. Jim was awesome to be around. He’s a great character, a great coach, one of the nicest guys you can meet. He really worked us hard. We got in several hours of practice each day. It was awesome to be around John Isner and the Bryan brothers. Ryan Harrison and I grew up playing each other. It was great to see him again. I hadn’t been around him for a while. We’re great buddies, keep in touch. It was phenomenal to see them get the win. It reminded me of a college match the way we would cheer for them. It was just great. We were all pulling for each other. It was really cool to see the team aspect again.
Q. What are your goals for the year and how does getting a main draw Australian wild card accelerate anything schedule-wise this year?
RHYNE WILLIAMS: Well, I just want to keep making runs in Grand Slams. Hopefully I can get through the qualifying in Wimbledon and the French Open. I would love to be in the main draw of those off my ranking, but that’s going to be extremely tough to do that. I know how hard it is to move up the rankings. Now is the really tricky part to get from the 200s to the low 100s. It’s going to be difficult, but I’d like to keep competing hard and giving myself the best chance to succeed. Hopefully I can see the main draw of Wimbledon and French Open obviously after Australia. That would be great.
TIM CURRY: Thanks, everyone. That will conclude the call. Thank you, Madison and Rhyne, for your time. Safe travels and happy holidays.
2012 Australian Open Wild Card Playoffs: Women’s Final Match, Trophy, Press Conference Videos
Yesterday’s final between Madison Keys and Mallory Burdette was a short and furious affair. Keys loves this event, as you would too if you’d won three consecutive Wild Card Playoffs like she has. Keys is headed down under and will arrive on Christmas Day. Check out the other videos on the youtube page while you’re watching.
Atlanta’s Wild Card Super Friends: Hampton, Riske join Keys in AO Main Draw #AusOpen #USTA
One...
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Last month in Atlanta, eight women competed for a Main Draw Wild Card for the Australian Open. It turns out that three of those competitors will be in the Big Kangaroo Dance after all. Jamie Hampton and Alison Riske both advanced in straight sets yesterday in final qualifying rounds at Melbourne Park.
Three!
Up next for Hampton will be Mandy Minella of Luxembourg. Riske will face Urszula Radwanska for starters. Madison Keys will open against Zie Jheng.
Other first-round American women’s matches include Christina McHale taking on Lucie Safarova, Irina Falconi against Alberta Brianti, Betthanie Mattek-Sands against Agnieszka Radwanska, Serena vs. Tamira Paszek, Sloane Stephens against Silvia Soler-Espinosa, Vavs Lepchenko starts against Daniela Hantuchova and Vania King will meet Kateryna Bondarenko.
Falconi and Hampton should definitely be in a position to advance, so Atlanta should have more than one reason to celebrate.
Memory Lane: Rando Photos from Racquet Club of the South #USTA
Here’s ten more shots from this month’s Australian Open Wild Card Playoffs in Norcross, Georgia. Until a Tumblr account is opened, there is where the photos will come to rest. And Happy New Year, y’all. Thanks for visiting the site in 2011, and special thanks to experienced bloggers and USTA reps for offering advice. Let’s bump into each other next year. See you in Charleston, Newport, DC, Atlanta, NYC, Charlottesville and Knoxville?
Nobody is more comfortable on a court than Rhyno.
Australian Open Wild Card Winner’s Press Conferences, #USTA Release
Jesse meets the press
Nothing is better than seeing the answers to our questions in print. Especially when someone else is doing the typing. The USTA’s Steve Pratt breaks down pressers better than anyone. After all, his gumshoe reporting days were spent with none other than the Los Angeles Times. Here’s his take:
NORCROSS, Ga., Dec 18, 2011 – Boca Raton, Fla., residents Madison Keys and Jesse Levine both won coveted trips to Melbourne, Australia, on Sunday with convincing victories at the 2011 Kia Motors USTA Australian Open Wild Card Playoff played at the Racquet Club of the South.
The 16-year-old Keys, who won a similar playoff in August in College Park, Md., for a spot in the US Open main draw, downed Gail Brodsky of Brooklyn, N.Y., 6-3, 6-4, before Levine dumped the hopes of local Kennesaw, Ga., resident Robby Ginepri with a 6-0,6-2, 6-1 victory that lasted just 1 hour and 24 minutes.
The three wins in three days mean an automatic berth for both players into the Australian Open main draw, the year’s first Grand Slam.
“Yes, I’m starting to like these wild card playoffs,” said an ecstatic Keys after the match. “ I knew she was getting pressured by my power and my serve was able to come in handy today.”
The key point of the match came early in the second set when Brodsky went up 15-40 at 2-all on Keys’ serve. But Keys pounded two big aces to get it back to deuce and wound up holding for the early lead.
Brodsky found herself down 5-2 in the second set but recorded a big break and hold to get itback to 5-4. “Anything I was throwing at her was not good enough today,” said Brodsky, who added that she will travel to Australia and try to qualify.“But I’m not upset with myself because I know there’s not much else I could have done.”
Brodsky added: “I don’t think she was feeling the pressure today. There’s really not much negative I can say about the way Madison played today. I just didn’t have enough today to beat her. I hope next time I’ll be better prepared and better trained.
“I was a little bit fatigued but she had tough matches too. It’s not like she was winning matches 0-0. She was in the same position as I was, it’s just she was better today.”
Keys admitted she never felt any pressure in the final. “Not really,” she said.“I’m one of the younger ones still so I’m not supposed to winthese matches. I’m the underdog. So I’m able to play a little morefree.”
“It still hasn’t hit me yet. I’m just really excited to be going to Australia. Just like the US Open, it’s going to take a couple of days before it actually sinks in.”
Keys will take a few days off before spending Christmas in her native state of Iowa and then back to training in Florida and California before heading Down Under.
Levine simply played some of the best tennis he’s ever played, moving well and running down everything Ginepri threw at him.
“I was just in the zone today,” he said. “I was just wondering after the first set if I could really stay with it. I wasn’t expecting to come out like that. I know Robby’s fit and in shape, I just didn’t expect to come out like that and was wondering if I was going to be able to keep it up.
Keep it up he did, dropping just three games in three sets. “Everything seemed to go my way and I was moving well and hitting the ball well all day.”
“I’m back in the Big Show so it feels really good.”
Ginepri tried to change things up at the start of the third set, taking a restroom break and changing his shirt and style of play, starting the set by serve and volleying the first game.
“I was just hoping to win that first game,” Levine said. “If I didn’t I thought maybe he could get the crowd back into it and the momentum could change.”
Levine joked about the third-set restroom break. “He tried to ice me, I guess. It was a veteran move. It was a big game to win that first one for sure.”
Levine added, “I’m used to the crowd being against me having played a year in college. I was just hoping to keep the momentum my way and not let them get into the match.”
Sponsors included: Kia Motors, Cost Management, USTA, Racquet Club of the South, Down Under Fest, New Chapter Press, Atlanta Kookaburros, Sports Rehab, Australian Bakery, Serious Tennis, Win Wear, Game Day Girl, Body Helix and Outback Steakhouse. The beneficiaries of the event were the United Way of Metro Atlanta and the National Tennis Foundation.
Sunday’s Final Scores
WOMEN
No. 6 Madison Keys (Boca Raton, Fla.) def. No. 5 Gail Brodsky (Brooklyn, N.Y.), 6-3, 6-4
MEN
No. 2 Jesse Levine (Boca Raton, Fla.) def. No. 4 Robby Ginepri (Kennesaw, Ga.), 6-0, 6-2, 6-1
Australian Open Women’s Wild Card Final, Post-Match Ceremony Video
THE MATCH: ONLY REGRET WAS NOT GETTING THE ENTIRE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL ANTHEM
Fans: She's got 'em
APRES LE MATCH: BRODSKY ACKNOWLEDGES “BUTT KICKING”
Australian Open Wild Card Video: Patrick McEnroe on Bogomolov’s Defection to Russian Davis Cup
USTA Player Development General Manager Patrick McEnroe told the media on Friday that while he personally harbors no ill feelings for Alex Bogomolov’s jump to Russia to play for the Kremlin’s Davis Cup team, he did indicate that the USTA is looking into requiring him to reimburse American tennis for their exhaustive support of his career to date. Was McEnroe convincing in stating that he personally didn’t care about Junior’s decision? Judge for yourself. The entire twenty minute press conference may be viewed below, and includes Madison Keys, Robby Ginepri and Gail Brodsky.
