Madison Keys shares her views on why people think she’s a clay-court specialist
Madison Keys moved through to the third round of the Charleston Open after beating Donna Vekic on Thursday. The American proved too strong for the Croatian, winning 78 per cent of her first serve points during a 6-2, 6-3 victory.
Photo by Robert Prange/Getty Images Madison Keys moved through to the third round of the Charleston Open after beating Donna Vekic on Thursday. The American proved too strong for the Croatian, winning 78 per cent of her first serve points during a 6-2, 6-3 victory. Keys will now take on Hungarian Anna Bondar in the round of 16.
After the match, she caught up with former top-20 player Alison Riske-Amritraj and talked about what she’s working on right now and how she feels about playing on clay. Madison Keys: ‘I’m not a clay-courter’ Photo by Robert Prange/Getty Images Unlike most of the clay-court tournaments on the WTA calendar, Charleston is played on green clay rather than the more common red. According to New York University, green clay in the United States is made from metabasalt, while red clay comes from crushed bricks.
Speaking about Charleston’s unique surface during her interview with Tennis Channel, Keys said she doesn’t see herself as a natural clay-courter, despite what some people might think. “You know, I grew up playing on green clay,” Keys said. “I grew up playing in Florida, so I got on it at a pretty early age and I learned how to slide.
“ “I feel like that’s always kind of the daunting thing. For everyone when you haven’t been on a clay court and you’re not 100% confident with the movement, it feels like it kind of translates into everything. ” “So I feel like being comfortable in the movement has always been a big thing for me.