Madison Keys honestly rates her 2025 season, from Australian Open win to 'annoying' Jessica Pegula overtake

Madison Keys reflected on her successful season, taking pride in reaching a career high, winning a Grand Slam, and earning the most points of her career. She also jokingly teased her fellow American, Jessica Pegula, for surpassing her in the WTA rankings.

Madison Keys had her career breakthrough in 2015 when she reached the semifinals of the Australian Open as a teenager. In 2016, she debuted in the top 10, and in 2017, she advanced to the US Open final, where she fell to Sloane Stephens. Keys continued to make deep runs at the majors in the years that followed, collecting several Tour-level titles, though injuries often hampered her progress.

Things took a turn for the better in 2025 when Madison Keys kicked off her season with a commanding win at the Australian Open, becoming the first player since Venus Williams in 2005 to defeat both No. 1 and No. 2. She also won the Adelaide International title, peaked at No. 5 on the WTA Tour and made the WTA Finals cut for the first time since 2016.

In a recent episode of The Players' Box podcast, when Jessica Pegula asked Keys to talk about her 'wow moment', the 30-year-old reflected on her successful year from her Melbourne campaign to achieving a career-high, while also jokingly expressing annoyance about Pegula surpassing her on the WTA rankings.

"Had a pretty good start to my year, I think the most matches I've ever won in a season. It's the most points I've ever put on the board. I had a new career high. I was five in the world, and then Jess overtook me again, which is annoying, whatever. Yeah, so I mean obviously I started on a really big high but also kind of a sneaky career year for me and I made my goal of WTA finals."

Keys' 2025 WTA Finals campaign was cut short as she withdrew before her final round robin match, citing illness.

Madison Keys heaped praise on Elena Rybakina for ending the season on a high note

There's never a dull moment at the Players' Box podcast as four hosts, Jessica Pegula, Madison Keys, Desirae Krawczyk, and Jennifer Brady, talk about various topics, from personal experiences to takes on other players. A couple of days ago, they discussed Elena Rybakina's dominant end to the season, winning the WTA Finals and bagging a whopping $5.2 million as prize money.

"She had an insane couple of weeks. She won Ningbo, she semied Tokyo, and then just won the year-end," Keys said.

She also lightheartedly talked about being jealous of the Kazakh's earnings while her co-hosts agreed, followed by a wave of laughter.

"We're jealous"

Keys will now look forward to a title defense at the 2026 Australian Open, having ended her season with health issues.

Edited by Agnijeeta Majumder