Madison Keys ran to embrace the members of her team after winning the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup. Among them was Bjorn Fratangelo, a former American tennis player who was a junior champion at Roland Garros and whom she married last year.
Keys, 29, was born in Rock Island, Illinois, and sports are in her genes because her father Rick played Division III college basketball.
The American picked up her first racket at the age of four and made her professional debut at just 14 years of age. Throughout her career, she has had to deal with various injuries, and the bandage on her left thigh has become a regular companion.
After the Australian Open final, she cried with joy. A few months earlier, the tears were of rage after having to abandon due to a physical problem in the last 16 at Wimbledon against Jasmine Paolini. “It was one of the toughest moments I ever had on a tennis court,” she recalls. Madison turned to a psychologist to cope with the pressure of the big stage. In her spare time, she practices meditation.
Georgi Rumenov, of Bulgarian origin and once one of the great promises of Spanish tennis, coached Keys until 2023. He then started with his compatriot Bjorn Fratangelo, who is now her husband.