Madison Keys says she is making an attempt to “navigate” her personal expectations and still have “an excellent grip on actuality” after becoming a member of the Grand Slam champions membership.
Within the Indian Wells third spherical – in what was her second match since successful the Australian Open – the No. 5 seed struggled to shut out the match in opposition to Elise Mertens however finally managed to take action and full a 6-2 6-7 (8) 6-4 win.
However earlier than attending to the end line, the American blew two match factors when serving for the match at 5-3 within the second set and she or he additionally did not convert any of her two match factors within the tie-break of that set.
All through her Australian Open run, Keys was firing from all cylinders and she or he registered wins over Danielle Collins, Elina Svitolina, Elena Rybakina, Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka.
Now, the problem for the American – who’s on a 14-match successful streak – is to type of get again to actuality and settle for that some ugly matches just like the one in opposition to Mertens will occur.
Keys on the significance of getting an excellent grip on actuality in post-Slam win interval
After beating Mertens, the 30-year-old acknowledged that she did not play her greatest but additionally added that she was making an attempt to handle her personal expectations for the primary time.
“I believe general in Australia I performed some actually good tennis, and I believe the additional away from it you get, the extra you type of overlook in regards to the lulls of matches and the moments the place you were not taking part in nice and also you type of simply bear in mind the entire actually nice, enjoyable stuff,” the brand new world No. 5 defined.
“So I believe it is also simply having an excellent grip on actuality, and that generally as nice as Australia was and all of the wins that I bought, there have been nonetheless some moments in matches the place I did not play nice or issues bought away from me. So simply being actually aware of that.”
Subsequent up for Keys in Indian Wells might be No. 19 seed Donna Vekic, who upset Tenth-seeded Emma Navarro.
