Madison Keys secured her place in Charleston Open third round after defeating Donna Vekic on Thursday.
The former Australian Open champion proved too strong for the Croatian, winning 78 per cent of her first serve points during a 6-2, 6-3 victory.
The American will face Hungarian player Anna Bondar in the Charleston Open round of 16.
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Following the match, Keys spoke to former top 20 star Alison Riske-Amritraj on the Tennis Channel and discussed her current focuses and her aptitude for clay-court tennis.
Madison Keys does not think she is a ‘clay-courter’
Unlike the majority of clay-court events on the WTA Tour, the Charleston Open is played on a green clay – rather than the red surface tennis fans are accustomed to seeing on their television screens.
Green clay courts in the US are made from metabasalt according to New York University, while red clay is made from crushed red bricks.
Speaking about the Charleston surface on the Tennis Channel, Keys expressed her disagreement at being labelled a ‘clay-courter.’
“You know, I grew up playing on green clay,” Keys said. “I grew up playing in Florida, so I got on it at a pretty early age and I learned how to slide.
“I feel like that’s always kind of the daunting thing, I think. For everyone when you haven’t been on a clay court and you’re not 100% confident with the movement, it feels like it kind of translates into everything.
“So I feel like being comfortable in the movement has always been a big thing for me. And then, funny enough, everyone tells me, they’re like, ‘You’re a clay courter.’
“I’m not, but okay.”
Keys, who has dropped to world number 18 at the start of this year, went on to discuss the fine margins of competing on the WTA Tour.
Speaking about her focuses moving forward, the American said: “I think it’s really becoming a lot of the little things everyone is so good now.
“I feel like no one really has any sort of glaring weakness that you feel like—oh, in a tight point, I’ll just go there, and you know. 50-50 chance now.
“If I don’t hit it an inch away from the line, they’re going to hit a winner on me. So it’s really just kind of becoming a little bit better about just those little small things and honestly, just being brave.
“No one is playing to win; there’s no one really on their back foot hoping that you give it to them anymore. So you really just have to go out and take it. I think, no matter what the surface is, that’s still the case.”
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Madison Keys on what she found ‘difficult’ after winning a Grand Slam
Last year, Madison Keys won her maiden Grand Slam title, defeating world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the final.
For many, Keys’ triumph felt a long time coming. After all, she remains one of the most talented players of her generation.
However, since winning the title, Keys has endured some difficulty – which she admitted while in conversation with Riske-Amritraj.
“You know, it’s been a little bit of a balancing act,” Keys said.
“It obviously took a lot of work to get to that point to no longer feel like I needed it to kind of justify my career.
“And then I got it. And then… it’s a lot— the kind of immediate questions and what do you do next? What do you want next? And a lot of that pressure kind of came.
“And I think a lot of it came from myself and just kind of finding my new normal has been a little bit more difficult than I maybe anticipated it being.
“And I think I’m finally really kind of starting to find my stride again and feel very comfortable, you know, just readjusting and saying, ‘ok, if I only win one Grand Slam, that’s amazing, too.’”
