Madison Keys emerged as the hottest story of the Australian Open but, Rome wasn’t built in a day. The former World No. 7 came close to lifting the Melbourne Slam multiple times in the past. But unfortunately, fate had other plans for her. She reached the semifinal Down Under ten years ago and again in 2022, but it wasn’t until the 2025 season she exacted her full potential. En route to the summit clash, Keys downed Polish Iga Swiatek in the semifinals and set up a title decider date with two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka. The American sensation, merely weeks after bagging her maiden Slam title in Melbourne, returned for an informative conversation alongside her husband Bjorn Frantangelo.

She overcame all odds and thwarted the Belarusian star’s quest for a three-peat by outclassing her in a thriller three-set showcase at the Rod Laver Arena. However, before recording those results, her husband Fratangelo shared her doubts about overthrowing top players like Swiatek and Sabalenka after she lost to the latter in the fourth round of the 2024 China Open. On Tuesday, the newlywed couple featured on the ‘Served with Andy Roddick’ podcast where her husband narrated the reigning AO champion’s struggles.

He said, “I’m going to tell you one thing she told me after she lost to [Aryna] Sabalenka in Beijing. We got back to the hotel room she throws her bag down she’s sitting on the bed, silent for a couple of minutes and she looks at me and she’s like, ‘Do I still have it ?’ And I was like, ‘Sorry, like what do you mean?’ And she’s like, ‘Do I still have it? I know I can be like 30 in the world but like, do you think I can still compete with like Aryna [Sabalenka] and Iga [Swiatek] and these girls or like, is it too far gone?’”

The American sensation’s husband, who is also her coach, stated that he motivated her by assuring Keys that a few changes to her game could help topple top-tier WTA players. “I was like, ‘I think you can, but what I say doesn’t hold weight you don’t think it.’ I said, ‘I think there’s a couple things that need tweaking, you can’t just do the same thing that you’ve done and be able to do same or have the same results. There’s a few things that we can work on during the off-season.”

Before recording a successful couple coaching partnership stint with her husband, Keys shed light on her husband’s initial discomfort in mentoring her.

Madison Keys dropped a hilarious take on her husband Bjorn Frantangelo coaching her

American star Madison Keys and Bjorn Fratangelo began dating in 2017. They took their romance to the next level when the American player-turned-coach Fratangelo joined her team in 2023, the same year they got engaged. In an interview with ‘People’, Keys unveiled that her husband was initially uncomfortable with the newfound dynamic but later found his momentum.

She also dropped a hilarious admission on Fratangelo’s coaching stint, saying: “He kind of begrudgingly did it. It was funny because the first week he was so uncomfortable. He’s like, ‘I don’t like telling you what to do.’ It didn’t take that long, but it took a little bit of just getting comfortable with it.” 

For those unaware, Keys, 29, became the fourth oldest WTA star to lift her debut Slam title. Her Melbourne success will allow her reentry into the Top 10.

The American sensation will look forward to the upcoming events on the tour and with a breakthrough season riding behind her, fans are yet to see if the dynamic makes way for similar results in the remaining calendar year.