Three Bravery Lessons from Tennis Star Madison Keys

American tennis player Madison “Madi” Keys won the Australian Open in January. Her first major title.  At age 29.  She’d last played in a majors final in 2017.

Three bold changes she made before the Australian Open final propelled her victory.

𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆

Madi lost in the 2023 US Open to Aryna Sabalenka and they played each other again in this year’s Australian Open final.

Madi told former pro tennis player and podcaster Rennae Stubbs what she learned from losing that US Open match to Sabalenka:

“The thing that going into this final I kept saying to myself was 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦.  She went after her shot, she didn’t back up, she went after everything.  And I really wanted to make sure that I did that this match.”

Bravery is all around us – we see colleagues, competitors and strangers be brave.  Learn from them as Madi did from her opponent.

𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆

After the 2024 season, Madi took a big risk by changing her tennis racquet and her tennis serve to seek to improve her game.  Both changes helped spark her championship win.

Identify bold actions you can take to boost your leadership.

𝗘𝗺𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆

Before the 2025 Australian Open semi-final match, Madi’s fitness trainer told her, “You’re worthy of this and you can do it.”  And he made Madi repeat it to him.

Believe deeply and truly accept that you can be a brave leader.

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