Madison Keys will also try a new coach in 2019: Jim Madrigal, who has been on the men’s tour so far, will take over from David Taylor.
There are probably no two opinions in the tennis circus about the pure talent that Madison Keys brings to the tennis court: Hardly any player can hit the balls harder than the 23-year-old American. Hardly any other player makes as many mistakes as Keys, who finished 2018 17th in the WTA World Ranking.
Two semi-finals at Grand Slam tournaments show the annual balance of Keys: In Roland Garros she lost, as in the final of the US Open 2017, against compatriot and friend Sloane Stephens. In New York City, Naomi Osaka was the final stop against the later winner.
Keys has now thought about something new for the coming year: David Taylor will no longer sit in her box as coach, this task will now be taken over by Jim Madrigal, who trained the two Americans Bryan Baker and Tennys Sandgren on the ATP tour.
It will certainly take a little time to switch from men to women, Madrigal told the portal Tennis Takes.
“My focus will be on getting Madison Keys to play the best possible tennis that matches her natural abilities,” Madrigal said. “She has already shown that she is able to beat any player in the world. We’ll try to combine the high level game with more consistency.”