Madison Keys' husband Bjorn reveals how American's plea for 'help' pushed him to overcome his discomfort about being her coach

Madison Keys shares a light moment with her husband and coach Bjorn Fratangelo. Credit: Getty
Madison Keys shares a light moment with her husband and coach Bjorn Fratangelo. Credit: Getty

Bjorn Fratangelo, Madison Keys’ husband and coach, has revealed how he began working with the newly crowned Australian Open champion.

Fratangelo, himself a former tennis player with a career-high ranking of 99, began coaching Keys a couple of years ago but didn’t ever think that he would don that role. Keys recently won her maiden Grand Slam title and in the process, became the oldest first-time champion at the Australian Open.

Speaking on the latest episode of Served with Andy Roddick, Fratangelo delved into the circumstances surrounding his transition to becoming Keys’ coach.

“I was still having a lot of pain, so I didn't really want to hit too much. All of sudden, I was behind her and I was like this feels weird. ‘I don’t like telling you what to do, I'm uncomfortable.’ It was just like her with a couple of junior boys that were there and then me kind of just feeding them in. Then it slowly turned into her being like, ‘I need help. I need serious help and please help me’ and I was like, okay,” said Fratangelo (31:42 onwards).

Initially, the American was not fully comfortable with the idea of “telling Keys what to do” when they were on court.

“Once I grappled with the fact that ‘okay, now I actually have to tell her what to do’, it became a little easier for me because it's coming from her. I could sense that there was a lot of doubt and a lot of just anxiety towards how she was playing through that period,” he added.

The one big advantage that aided a smooth transition was that they knew each other for the longest time. Fratangelo and Madison Keys played on the circuit at the same time and they followed each other’s careers, so there was no need for any ice-breaking sessions.

“(Typically) you get to know each other and things go like that. (In our case) I've actually watched her for the last seven years and never said a word about tennis. We stood out of each other's careers, pretty much. We did a really good job of never butting in. If we were to talk about tennis, it would just be how we're feeling emotionally. If we've been on the road for five weeks, we want to come home or things like that,” said Fratangelo.

Fratangelo was in Madison Keys’ box throughout the Australian Open and had penned a heartfelt letter to her after she clinched the Melbourne Major.

How Madison Keys 'forced' husband Bjorn Fratangelo to coach her

Madison Keys celebrates winning the Australian Open 2025 with her coach and husband Bjorn Fratangelo. Source: Getty
Madison Keys celebrates winning the Australian Open 2025 with her coach and husband Bjorn Fratangelo. Source: Getty

Madison Keys had also recently spoken about how Bjorn Fratangelo was initially hesitant to coach her but later agreed to the role. The move has made a massive difference in Keys’ career as she won her career’s eighth WTA title last year and clinched her maiden Grand Slam this year.

Speaking on Good Morning America, Keys said:

"He started helping me about a year and a half, two years ago, and he really didn't want to. He said he was very uncomfortable with telling me what to do and did not want to do it. I basically had to force him to come with me."

Keys and Fratangelo had been dating since 2017 and got married in November 2024. Keys recently shared an adorable series of images from her time in Australia.

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Edited by Pratham K Sharma
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