Google News Madison Keys: I have to figure out how to not put all of that pressure on myself
by DZEVAD MESIC | VIEW 3164
World No. 52 Madison Keys is hoping to build on her strong start to the year and continue making good results going forward. Keys, who enjoyed a challenging 2021 on and off the court, won the Adelaide 2 title before making the Australian Open semifinal.
"Honestly, I think the biggest thing that I take from the summer is just getting a lot of matches in," Keys said, per the WTA website. "It's been a really long time since I have been able to start off the year on such a strong foot and have all of these matches and to have all that confidence going into the year.
"I don't think I have ever had that, so that's a great feeling. It's something that's really great to build off of. Just having all of that experience on the court already this year for tough moments down the road is going to be really beneficial."
Keys wants to avoid pressure and have fun
Keys, who found herself in a dark place last year, won 10 matches in a row before losing to world No.
1 Ashleigh Barty in the Australian Open semifinal. "I think that the biggest thing that I have learned from this trip is that enjoying myself on a tennis court is absolutely vitally important for me," she said. "At the end of the day I have to enjoy what I'm doing, and I have to figure out how to not put all of that pressure on myself so that I can enjoy tennis, because when I can enjoy tennis I'm capable of playing at a much higher level than what was happening last year.
"Physically I feel really good after playing a lot of matches. I still am fighting to get back to the level that I think that I was obviously on the tennis court ranking-wise, but mentally I feel like I'm in a really good position and feeling fresh."