Madison Keys Excited About her Career’s Late Bloom Ahead of the 2025 WTA Finals
Madison Keys will open her account at the WTA Finals against Iga Swiatek in Serena Group.
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Madison Keys is set to feature at the WTA Finals for the second time in her career. The American star first featured at the season-ending tournament in 2016 but only won one match before crashing out. At 30, Keys is looking forward to making up for the years she failed to play in the WTA Finals.
Keys earned her qualification for the WTA Finals early in the season by winning her first Grand Slam at the Australian Open. The 30-year-old defeated two-time champion Aryna Sabalenka in three sets to claim the title for the first time in her career. She became the third-oldest player to win her maiden Slam in the Open Era.
However, Keys failed to reach another tournament final after Melbourne but enjoyed good runs at the Indian Wells and Queen’s Club Championships. The points she claimed at those tournaments were enough to cement her place in the top 10 of the WTA rankings and the season-ending tournament.
The last time Keys played at the WTA Finals she lost to Simona Halep in the first group stage match. After that, she claimed her first win by beating Dominika Cibulkova in the second match, but ultimately failed to qualify for the semi-finals after losing to Angelique Kerber in the third round-robin tie.
Back into the top 10 after years away, Keys is seeking to take the lesson from her previous run in Riyadh. Ahead of the Finals, the WTA interviewed Keys about her late bloom on the tour. The 30-year-old revealed that winning her first Grand Slam late in her career makes her incredibly proud of herself:
2025 has been arguably the best year of my career. I’ve had a lot of amazing tournaments, and winning a Grand Slam is obviously at the top of my list. Doing it later in my career has been something that I’m incredibly proud of, but again, there’s just that tennis player inside of me that wants a little bit more.
Keys will open her account at the WTA Finals in Riyadh against Iga Swiatek. She defeated the former World No.1 in the semi-finals of the Australian Open before ultimately winning the title after beating Sabalenka. However, Swiatek leads their head-to-head record 5-2 and won their most recent meeting at the 2025 Madrid Open in three sets.
Madison Keys not satisfied with her career despite winning her first Grand Slam at the Australian Open
Madison Keys’ last tour-level match was at the 2025 US Open in New York. The World No.7 suffered an upset in the first round against Mexican star Renata Zarazúa in three sets. It was the first top 10 win for Zarazúa in her career, while Keys struggled with a thigh issue. That made her not compete at the Asian swing.
However, she will be back on the court at the WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. During the aforementioned interview, Keys revealed that she’s not completely satisfied with her career, adding that the likes of Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic always wanted more titles despite all their records:
Am I fully satisfied? I don’t know if any of us ever will be, which is interesting because you hear people like Serena [Williams] or Novak [Djokovic] speak, and they always wanted more. You look at their careers and think, you did everything. How could you possibly want more? So I think it’s just ingrained in all of us to really not be fully satisfied.
Keys is in the Serena Group at the WTA Finals, consisting of Iga Swiatek, former World No.3 Elena Rybakina, and Wimbledon finalist Amanda Anisimova. She has to win at least two matches to qualify for a place in the semi-finals of the season-ending tournament.
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