Madison Keys has admitted she still feels Grand Slam first round anxiety as she came through a tight opening round at the US Open.
The American came through a tight and edgey opening round contest against Alina Korneeva in a 7-5 6-4 win.
There were nervy points for Keys throughout the contest but Keys just about prevailed and let out a huge scream of relief after the win.
Reflecting on first round anxiety at Grand Slams Keys admitted it is still very relevant to feel these emotions in what was a tight and nervy first round, “No, it’s very relevant. I think we all kind of laugh,” Keys stated in her press conference.
“Jess (Jessica Pegula) and I were talking about it the other day where it’s, like, you can kind of feel, as the days are getting closer, everyone gets here, you have a week, everyone is excited to be here, and then as the days are slowly getting closer to first rounds, racquets are maybe getting a little slippery, you can hear more yelling happening, and you can kind of feel the tension.
“I think collectively we all just get really anxious. We’re probably feeding off of each other, as well, but we all want to do well. It all feels like I think the buildup is always so hard, just because you’re so in it and you’re anticipating the tension that’s going to happen and the anxiety that’s going to happen. So it’s definitely very relevant and very real.”
It was at last year’s event where Keys lost her first round match at the US Open in a long battle to Renata Zarazua.
Keys admitted that wasn’t on her mind but acknowledged the tension was still there, “Thank you for bringing that up. Yeah, I think that today is obviously tough, because you go back on the court where you had a really tough loss, and to go back out and play another first round, it’s always hard,” Keys confessed.
“To have that kind of lingering memory is tough. I mean, I don’t know how long it took for the loss of last year. I kind of forgot about it, to be totally honest. But yeah, it’s always hard to come back to a place where you last played and it was a tough loss.”
The 22nd seed will hope to avoid similar nerves when she takes on Anna Bondar in the second round.
Meanwhile there was also a win for second seed Elena Rybakina as the Kazakh got past wildcard Thea Frodin 6-3 6-2.
There were doubts over Rybakina’s fitness after her injury against Iga Swiatek in Cincinnati but Rybakina prevailed.
Rybakina will now play Darja Vidmanova or Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in the second round.
