American tennis star Madison Keys had double the reason to celebrate this Fourth of July — she not only won her Wimbledon match but finally set foot on the tournament’s legendary Centre Court for the very first time.
Keys, seeded 26th in the tournament, defeated fellow American Amanda Anisimova, the sixth seed, by a score of 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 on Saturday to move into the fourth round. What made the victory even more special was that it marked Keys’ first-ever appearance on Centre Court despite having competed at Wimbledon 11 times before.
“I’m glad that I finally got to check that off of the list,” said the 31-year-old former Australian Open champion, confirming that playing Centre Court had indeed been on her bucket list.
The fact that Keys had never previously appeared on the world’s most celebrated tennis court surprised even those close to her. She recalled a recent conversation with her agent, Max Eisenbud, about the topic.
“Everyone was shocked. I was saying that to (agent) Max (Eisenbud) the other day, and he’s like, ‘you’ve been on Centre Court.’ I was like, ‘no, I actually physically have not,’” Keys said.
When the order of play was released Friday, Keys learned she would be competing on Centre Court for the first time. Her excitement was immediate.
“I was so excited. I was texting our podcast group chat. I was like, ‘Guys, I’m going to be on the Centre Court of Wimbledon. This is crazy,’” she recalled.
Keys came into Wimbledon riding some momentum, having captured the Eastbourne title just last week. She took some time to find her footing in the match but ultimately looked right at home on the historic surface.
Describing the moments leading up to her walk onto the court, Keys said the experience was one she truly savored.
“It’s funny, just like all these years later when you do the whole walk and down the stairs, I was like, I’ve never seen this. I kind of kept looking around,” she said. “I don’t know if I would say it was intimidating. It was just really fun for me to … experience it for the first time. I really kind of took it all in. I was quite literally looking at every single picture on the wall.”
Keys will return to action Monday when she faces Czech ninth seed Linda Noskova, with a chance to match her best-ever run at the grasscourt Grand Slam.
