It’s not the new racquet. Nor is it the new strings. It’s not coach/husband Bjorn Fratangelo. It’s not aggressive tactics. It's not the wisdom that comes with age, either.
No, Madison Keys’ remarkable run to a maiden Grand Slam title is the result of all of these things and more.

More important? This is a story about the soul of a tennis player. And the courage that it takes to throw caution to the wind and simply... make the change.
In the off-season, Keys changed her racquet, changed her service motion and her strings. And then she changed her approach.
“I think that the big focus for me this off-season was really just kind of buying into I'll try anything, I'll do anything, I'll be open,” Keys said after her match point-saving victory over Iga Swiatek in the semis. “I'm open to any and all changes. Let's just really go for it.”
Strange, that a player who first came onto the scene at the age of 14 as a can’t miss kid and, potentially, the future of women’s tennis (cue the media hype machine) could end up being a late bloomer. Those two identities are typically mutually exclusive, but not in Keys' case.
In Melbourne, and in this phase of the 29-year-old's career, the stars aligned for Keys, and the confluence of all contributing factors have allowed her tide to rise.
She faced Aryna Sabalenka in Saturday's final, staring down the barrel of one of the game's most feared attackers, and came up clutch in a tense deciding set to lift her maiden major trophy.
Keys, 29, is the first player to defeat the No.1 and No.2-ranked player at the Australian Open since Serena Williams in 2005, and the first to do it any major since Svetlana Kuznetsova in 2009.
How did she shed the doubts and keep believing? After the win she thanked her team in an emotional post-match speech, for their belief in her. She said that after a season filled with injuries and tough losses she didn't know if she'd ever have a chance to win a major.
A new stick, a new energy
Her new racquet may not be the main reason she broke through to win a title on her 46th appearance in a main draw at a major (third most all-time for first-time winners), but it certainly played a role.
The new Yonex is more maneuverable and a positive addition to Keys' game. You could see her defending the court better than ever last night. At one moment, she stretched out behind the baseline and flicked that little Yonex handily, like it was a magic wand. So handily, in fact, that she got the middle of her string bed on the ball, sending up a perfect defensive lob that won her the point and sent a message to the Polish juggernaut that she was in for a fight.
Oh yeah, it was a fight, indeed. A rally from a set down, a match point saved, a comeback in the match tiebreak.
The kind of fight that keys, in the past (see 2023's US Open semifinal with Aryna Sabalenka) is notorious for losing.
The kind of fight that she came through again in the final, as she held serve like a boss in the final set and pulled off a clutch break to win, sending a barrage of winners past a shell-shocked Sabalenka.
And it is about her husband/coach, Born Fratangelo, at least partially. Let’s give him credit — but not too much. This victory was all about Keys using everything she’s been through, every loss and every lesson, as fuel.
“That was as gutsy as I've ever seen her compete,” Fratangelo, who married Keys during the off-season, told reporters after the win, as he looked ahead to the final. “Tomorrow is going to be tough, but I have a good feeling about it.”
In the final Keys used the lessons from her past and embraced who she is on the tennis court – a menace that lives and dies by her thunderous high risk game.
Those tough losses linger, but the smart players learn from them and come back stronger. What an example Madison Keys has set in that regard!
This year in Melbourne Keys has spoken often about understanding what needs to be done in the pressure moments better than she has in the past.
“So we have really been working on actually taking a little bit more chances and trying to go a little bit more aggressive and bigger from the start,” Keys said after defeating sixth-seeded Elena Rybakina in the round of 16.
“I think for me, weirdly, my instinct is to kind of back up and try to play safe, but it doesn't usually get me very far. Today I think I was thinking a lot, especially in the last bit of the third set, and really making the conscious decision to try to be a little bit more aggressive and try to take the initiative more.”
Let’s also give Keys credit for seeing the wisdom of having Fratangelo with her on tour. she knew and felt in her heart that it would be the right decision, and it has turned out to be so. They are growing together now professionally and personally, and the former phenom, the one who has always possessed some of the most jaw dropping power strokes that the women’s game has seen, is now in full blossom mode.
10 years after reaching her maiden major semifinal in Melbourne as a 19-year-old, she has hit a new level in her career. It took courage to make the changes and step out of her comfort zone after a decade of success on tour.
Credit Keys for that, and for setting an example that so many of us -- in life and in tennis -- can be inspired by.