America's Got Talent

Lawn Tennis, Paris Open, Lawn Tennis Magazine

America's Got Talent
By Tripp Mateschitz , Lawn Tennis Analyst, Posted: Sunday, April 26, 2009 6:55pm PST USA

America's Got Talent, Madison Keys, Lawn Tennis Magazine

Los Angeles--(lawntennis.org) Inspired by her fellow Americans, the Williams sisters and groomed by the American legend Chris Evert, the 14 year old American Madison Keys could be the USA's next women's tennis talent.

Keys, an Alexandra Stevenson look-alike, who also is biracial, just happened to see Venus Williams playing tennis on television a few years ago. What followed was Key's request to her parents for a tennis dress like Williams'.

“I actually got into tennis because of Venus and Serena,” Keys said. “I was watching Wimbledon one year and Venus was playing and I really liked how she was playing but I also liked her outfit.”

“I told my dad I wanted a dress like Venus’ and he said 'only if you play tennis.' So, I went to Walgreen’s, got a racket and started playing.”

Madison Keys of the USA | Image: IMG

“I actually got into tennis because of Venus and Serena,” Keys said.

And although Serena Williams has topped the WTA Tour rankings for much of 2009 and the Williams sisters have won the last three grand slams contested, only four American WTA Tour players are presently ranked in the top 100.

Serena Williams currently is ranked 2nd, followed by her sister Venus Williams at 5th, Bethanie Mattek-Sands 39th and Jill Crabas at 90th.

As a junior player in 2007, Keys took Under 12 titles at Eddie Heer and the Orange Bowl.

The Boca Raton, Florida teenager first debuted in professional tennis on the ITF Circuit at Fort Walton Beach earlier this year before accepting a maindraw WTA Tour wildcard at the MPS Championships earlier this month at Ponte Vedra Beach, Flordia.

Then in the first round at Ponte Vedra Beach, Keys became the seventh youngest player ever to win a WTA Tour singles main draw match as she rebounded from 2-5 down in set one to defeat the 81st ranked Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia 7-5, 6-4.

However in the second round Keys met the WTA Tour's tenth ranked and top seeded Nadia Petrova of Russia and lost 6-3, 6-2.

Keys relocated from Chicago to train at the Evert Academy in Florida, coached by John Evert and hits several times a month with Chris Evert.

And in two other rarities in American women's tennis, Keys has cited clay as her favorite playing surface and has expressed a fondness for rushing the net in a game dominated by hardcourt preferring baseliners.

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