Madison Keys of USA plays a shot against Lucia Bronzetti of Italy in the Round 1, R32 match of the 2024-25 Women’s ASB Classic WTA 250 tennis tournament at Manuka Doctor Arena, Auckland, New Zealand on Tuesday, December 31. Photo / Alan Lee, Photosport
Madison Keys of USA plays a shot against Lucia Bronzetti of Italy in the Round 1, R32 match of the 2024-25 Women’s ASB Classic WTA 250 tennis tournament at Manuka Doctor Arena, Auckland, New Zealand on Tuesday, December 31. Photo / Alan Lee, Photosport
When the New Year’s Eve countdown came on Tuesday night, Madison Keys was planning to be fast asleep.
Though she is staying at Sky City – with the fireworks just above her – the ASB Classic top seed had no intentions to take part in any festivities, expecting to be in bed by 10pm.
”It’s always a quiet one for me,” laughed Keys. “I don’t think I’ve seen midnight in quite a few years, so I’ll probably hear the fireworks - debate opening the window and then probably not – and go back to sleep.”
And Keys should sleep soundly, after a convincing start to her campaign here, in difficult conditions. Just like the first day of the tournament, Tuesday afternoon presented blustery conditions, enough to endanger some of the umbrellas sheltering the corporate box patrons at times.
But the 29-year-old – in her first centre court match here, after being consigned to qualifying on her only previous visit in 2013 – handled things well, with an authoritative 64-64 win over Italian baseliner Lucia Bronzetti.
World No 73 Bronzetti can be a difficult opponent – with her ability to continually get balls back – but Keys demonstrated her quality when it mattered, with some superb shot making at times. She dipped at the start of the second set - giving up consecutive breaks - but was good enough to restore parity, then convert her second match point.
”It was pretty good,” said Keys. “I served pretty well. At the beginning of the second set I let things get away from me a little bit, but overall [a] pretty clean match and a lot of things to be happy about, with a few things to work on.”
The Orlando native was mostly unfazed by the wind, though admitted it was tricky at times, with unpredictable gusts.
”Where I live it’s quite windy all of the time, so I should be really used to it,” said Keys. “We practise a lot in it and it’s the same for everyone, so you just have to do your best.”
Aside from the weather, another battle was overcoming the early season “jitters” as players come off a two-month training bloc. Even though Keys is a veteran – she has been on the tour since 2010 and faced both Serena and Venus Williams at their peak – she still feels edgy at this stage of the year.
”We haven’t been off that long, but for us it feels like we haven’t played matches in years, so we’re all a little bit more nervous and feel a little bit out of sorts out there,” said Keys. “So a win really helps confidence and momentum.”
Madison Keys of USA plays a shot against Lucia Bronzetti of Italy. Photo / Alan Lee, Photosport
Keys is in a good space. She is enjoying this chapter of her career - taking on the WTA’s young guns – and got married to long-time partner Bjorn Fratangelo in late November, noticeably quick to place her wedding ring back on her finger as soon as Tuesday’s match finished, grabbing it from a small purse in her tennis kit bag.
”We’ve been engaged for quite a while now, so it’s just become a habit,” said Keys. “It’s more if I leave it in my bag, it’ll be two weeks later and then I’ll realise I forgot to put it back on.”
She arrived in Auckland relatively late – Friday morning - after choosing to spend time with friends back home for Christmas but has had “zero issues” with jet lag.
”I slept normally, woke up at a normal time and feel really good,” said Keys. “For whatever reason coming this far, I always adjust very quickly, so it wasn’t a big deal.”
Compatriot Sofia Kenin (world No 81) also impressed on Tuesday, with a 7-6(5) 6-1 win over China’s Xiyu Wang (98). The 2020 Australian Open champion was assured on serve and smart from the baseline against Wang, who was a surprise semifinalist here in 2024.
”I’ve been training well, feeling good, so we will see what happens but I have confidence that 2025 will be a better year,” said Kenin.
Michael Burgess has been a sports journalist since 2005, winning several national awards and covering Olympics, Fifa World Cups and America’s Cup campaigns.
