Madison Keys reveals the impact of her heroic Australian Open title win after edging Elise Mertens in Indian Wells

Madison Keys inched closer to her first Indian Wells title after a topsy-turvy win over Elise Mertens in the third round.

Madison Keys reveals the impact of her heroic Australian Open title win after edging Elise Mertens in Indian Wells

Madison Keys, Elise Mertens (Image via WTA/X)

Madison Keys survived a scare in the Indian Wells third round. On Sunday (March 9), the fifth seed locked horns with 28th seed Elise Mertens inside Court 2 in a match that the latter pushed into a decider.

Keys didn’t let Mertens win more than two games in the first set, but the Belgian fought hard to level the scores and was successful in doing so, as she clinched the tie-breaker in the second set. Keys bounced back in the third set and eventually won the match with scores of 6-2, 6-7(8), 6-4.

YouTube video

Keys had kick-started her Sunshine Doubles campaign against Anastasia Potapova, which was also her first match since the Australian Open final against Aryna Sabalenka. The American was successful in denying the Belarusian a historic three-peat at Melbourne Park with a three-set win. Following her Indian Wells third-round win, Keys talked about the impact of that special victory at the Melbourne Slam.

FS Video

It’s been interesting to get back on court. But I think it’s been a little bit very, very excited to be back and playing tennis and wanting to win some more, also have more expectations, and trying to deal with that myself, and expecting a lot from myself every day.

Madison Keys said during the on-court interview

Keys is a 2022 quarterfinalist at Indian Wells. Last year, she was defeated in the third round by Yulia Putintseva.

Madison Keys admits match against Elise Mertens was tough and frustrating

Madison Keys has now extended her winning streak to 14 matches. Although she clinched a topsy-turvy victory over Elise Mertens, Keys had to hold her nerves against a player who has always troubled her in the past.

Madison Keys
Madison Keys (via WTA/X)

Their meeting before this year’s Indian Wells came in the 2024 US Open third-round where Mertens eliminated the reigning Australian Open champion. Keys has now finally got her revenge to improve her head-to-head record to 4-2.

It’s always tough when you feel like you’re not playing your best tennis against someone who is really tricky and with whom you’ve had some tough matches in the past. So it was definitely kind of frustrating out there today. Lots of ups and downs. But to be able to figure it out and get the win is all it takes sometimes and it’s just about surviving.

Madison Keys said during the on-court interview

Keys’ fourth-round opponent is 2024 Olympic silver medalist Donna Vekic, who had knocked out Emma Navarro in the previous round. The 30-year-old is 2-1 in the head-to-head record against Vekic, but they haven’t faced each other since 2019.