“We’re lying if we say that we don’t care” - Madison Keys breaks taboo, opens up about her 'personal growth' through therapy after US Open 1R win

Madison Keys discussed her 'personal growth', which came as a result of receiving help from therapy after her opening-round win at the 2024 US Open. The 14th seed kicked off his campaign with a 6-4, 6-1 routine win against Katerina Siniakova. Keys expressed how difficult it is for players not to live by about every single result.

The American has had a tough last couple of months this year as an in-form Keys' run came to an end in the fourth round of Wimbledon due to a minor muscle tear in her leg. She then retired from the second round of the Canadian Open as well.

During her press conference, Keys was asked how she dealt with results such as the one against Jasmine Paolini at Wimbledon, where she retired in the deciding set.

The American said it was 'therapy' that helped her understand that it was important to not let every result take over your mind. She admitted that it was hard, as a player, to not separate yourself from winning and losing, because the player has to address the defeat immediately after a match:

"I think that that's just trying to just not live and die by every result. I know that's really hard. I think it's really hard, especially for tennis players, because every result matters. I mean, we're lying if we say that we don't care. But I think it's really hard when you grow up and the number next to your name means so much".

Keys added:

"It becomes really hard to kind of separate yourself from that number and the winning and the losing. I think it's even just when you win, your phone is blowing up. People want to talk to you after the matches and everything. You have to go into press, and then you lose, and it's not the same."

Keys said that therapy helped her in "personal growth" and explained that she has been trying to separate the experiences from the disappointments, that come with it:

"I think it's hard when you grow up that way to not take every loss as this is the end of the world. So it's been a lot of personal growth on my part, but I've been really working on just trying to take the experiences for what they are and not the, you know, earth-shattering disappointment that sometimes I think we kind of all can live in a little bit."

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"Hard part about therapy is finding someone that fits for you" - Madison Keys

Madison Keys (Image Source: Getty)

Madison Keys explained how the toughest part of therapy was finding something that fits one and mentioned that her go-to was sports psychology. She said:

"I've tried it on and off for a few years, and I think that's the hard part about therapy is finding someone that fits for you. I think for me personally I've always tried specifically sports psychology".

Keys explained that she reached a point in her life when she realized happiness is paramount and started taking therapy seriously. This led her to become more honest and vulnerable, which, though she didn't like, knew was important to help herself.

"I think at the time I was always smart enough to pick up on what to say and say the right things and do the right things, but never really fully believed them 100% and never really fully buy into it. It just got to a point where I wanted to be just an overall happier person."

"So I started trying to look at it from that point of view, and if I could do that and really buy into it and be really honest and vulnerable, which is not my favorite thing to do with people, that a lot of good could come from it."

Madison Keys will play qualifier Maya Joint in the second round of the 2024 US Open.