Photo credit: Hannah Peters/Getty
Letting go of expectation helped Madison Keys capture her maiden major at the Australian Open.
Playing her first match since making magic in Melbourne, Keys unleashed major mastery in the desert.
Deploying the entire shot spectrum, Keys crushed Anastasia Potapova 6-3, 6-0 cruising into the BNP Paribas Open third round.
A streaking Keys scored her 13th straight win improving to her career-best 15-2 start to the season. Keys and WTA ace leader Clara Tauson lead the Tour in victories this season.
In the afterglow of her Australian Open championship, Keys reflected on how release helped her rise.
Clutching the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup like a long-lost friend, Keys said releasing expectations really inspired her resilient rise to the title.
"I think I’ve done a lot of work to no longer need this," Keys said. "I really wanted this, but it was no longer the thing that was going to define me.
"Kind of letting go of that burden I kind of finally gave myself the ability to actually play for it."
In her first match as a major champion, Keys commanded the center of the court blowing open a 3-all tie by racing through nine straight games to close in 63 minutes.
World No. 34 Potapova is a dangerous player who owns hard-court wins over Keys, Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini and Zheng Qinwen. On a breezy day, Potapova struggled to keep her drives between the lines and was sometimes forced to play off the back foot by Keys.
Showing shrewd variety, Keys used the backhand drop shot to help earn triple break point. Bulletting a backhand down the line, Keys broke with a bang for 4-3.
That break turned the match around: Keys did not drop another game.
Given the combination of Keys’ explosive firepower and a tricky wind blowing around 12 mph, you can understand why Potapova dropped back behind the baseline. Trying to give herself more time to cope with Keys’ combustible shot-making and wind gusts, Potapova was vulnerable to the American’s down the line daggers.
Keys slashed through successive love holds extending to 5-3.
Making clean contact, Keys was cracking her forehand to all areas of the court. Lashing a forehand winner down the line brought Keys to set point. Keys clocked a diagonal forehand for a one-set lead after 41 minutes.
The Australian Open champion crunched 20 winners—15 more than Potapova—in the opening set.
Wristing a clean backhand return down the line, Keys started the second set with her third consecutive break for a one-set, 2-0 lead.
An impatient Potapova was trying to tee off quickly, but was hitting herself into trouble.
Perhaps she was confounded by Keys’ power, spooked by spiking wind or unnerved by the Stadium 1 stage, but Potapova spent much of the second set hitting herself into oblivion.
In contrast, Keys did not over-hit but continued smacking deep drives and whipped the backhand down the line as sharply as she did during her momentous Melbourne run.
The 30-year Keys cruised through 12 of her final 15 points on serve closing with one final forehand.
Playing at a career-high ranking of No. 5 Keys will face either 28th-seeded Elise Mertens or 76th-ranked Aussie Kimberly Birrell for a spot in the round of 16.
In her 12th career Indian Wells appearance, Keys will try to ride this winning wave and eclipse her best BNP Paribas result, which was a quarterfinal appearance back in 2022.