Madison Keys has appointed seven-time Grand Slam champion Mats Wilander as her new coach.
Keys has encountered a testing start to 2016. The 21-year-old has only played in two tournaments this year. Starting her season at the Australian Open, Keys reached the fourth round before losing to China’s Zhang Shuai as she struggled with a leg injury. Due to her injury troubles, she missed a month the tour before returning to action at the BNP Paribas open, where she lost in the first round to Nicole Gibbs.
Last December, Keys ended her coaching partnership with former world No.1 Lindsay Davenport. In a press conference, the American said that she decided to stop the collaboration because she wanted a full-time coach.
“This point in my career, I wanted someone who would be there every single day.” Keys said in December, 2015.
“She helped me so much, but we kind of went as far as we could.”
Wilander is no stranger to the world of coaching. In the past, he has also worked with Marat Safin, Paul-Henri Mathieu and Tatiana Golovin. Recently he has worked extensively in the media, becoming a regular contributor to Eurosport.
The Swede has spoken highly about Keys in the past. He once said that she ‘hits the ball harder than some of the ATP’s biggest hitters.’ Speaking to Swedish media about his upcoming work with Keys, the 51-year-old spoke about one area of Keys’ game that he wants to work on.
“First and foremost, it’s about her playing more varied. She and Serena Williams hit the hardest for the ladies, but I want to get Madison to get some more top spin in her forehand than what she has now”. He told Aftonbladet.se.
Another area that Wilander plans to focus on is her serve. Keys is known for her ability to consistently hit serves over 100 mph. At the 2015 US Open, her fastest serve was 121 mph, just 4 mph behind Serena Wiliams. Speaking about her strong serve, Wilander said he wants to help her use the serve to her advantage.
“I want her to use her serve better. She has a good first and second serve. He said.
“With her technique and strength, she can widen the track more than the other girls can. It is not about hitting aces, but about knowing how to use the serve to set up the score. It was exactly what Becker got Djokovic to think about when they began working together”.
Keys’ next tournament will be the Miami Open. Seeded 22nd in the tournament, she has a first round bye and will play either Laura Robson or Kirsten Flipkens in the second.
