'I think I blacked out': Madison Keys makes interesting admission after beating Eva Lys at Cincinnati Open

America’s Madison Keys had a tough outing in her opening match at the Cincinnati Open. The 30-year-old defeated Germany’s Eva Lys in the round of 64 with a score of 6-1, 3-6, 7-6. It was Keys’ 32nd win in 42 matches this year.

Despite having a win percentage of more than 75 percent in 2025, Keys has only managed to play in the final of two events. She is currently taking part in the 13th competition this year. That number is quite low, but the positive part is that whenever Keys cemented a spot in the final, she went on to win the competition.

Her first final came at the Adelaide International back in January, where she defeated fellow American Jessica Pegula in the final with a score of 6-3, 4-6, 6-1. Her second final came the same month, at the Australian Open, where she defeated Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka with a score of 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 to lift her maiden Grand Slam title.

Keys came into the competition on the back of a decent outing at the Canadian Open, where her journey ended at the quarterfinals stage as she lost to Denmark’s Clara Tauson in straight sets with a score of 6-1, 6-4. Keys has been quoted in a report by Tennis.com after her win against Lys and shared an interesting story. Keys joked that she thinks she ‘blacked out’ before winning the final point. Keys also went on to admit that neither she nor her opponent had a good outing on the court.

Consistency the key

“I think I blacked out,” said Keys. “I was just trying to win the point directly ahead of me. I think it was just one of those days where neither of us played great at the same time, but we both kind of kept finding it. I feel like sometimes that’s just a tennis match: you’re not both raising your level at the same time, and that kind of happened a little bit today. I also thought we both played really well at moments.”

Keys then went on to highlight the reason behind eventually coming out on top against Lys. Keys stated that she thinks she played well when it mattered, which proved to be the difference. “I think I played well when it mattered. I think I served really well at the end, and that was huge. I felt like there was times when I wasn’t making the best decisions, but that’s life. I literally take it point to point to point, almost to the point where I’ll walk off sometimes like, ‘I don’t remember; did she have match points? Did that actually happen? But just trying to be super clear when I’m walking up to the line, especially when I’m serving, so I know what I want to do with the first ball.”

Talking about how she is feeling on the court, Keys stated that despite having a mixed year, she is happy to secure some of the biggest wins on the court. Keys also indicated that she feels she has been more ‘consistent’ in 20245. "I’m feeling pretty good,” said Keys. “It’s obviously a long year, started off on a really big note. But I feel like I’ve had probably some of the best wins of my career and it’s probably the most consistent that I’ve been. So, I really just feel like I’m trekking along, one tournament after another. I’m looking forward to hopefully finishing the season on as good of a note as I started.”

Keys' next opponent will be Japan’s Aoi Ito. The 21-year-old cemented her spot in the third round of the ongoing WTA 1000 event after beating Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova with a score of 6-1, 4-6, 6-4. It will be the first meeting between the two players in professional tennis.