Who are Madison Keys’ parents? Attorneys Rick and Christine Keys refused to let their daughter’s dream die
Madison Keys’ parents initially thought she would become a dancer, but the moment she saw “Venus Williams on TV in a pretty dress” things changed and her parents Rick and Christine Keys did everything they could to help her achieve her dreams.
Keys – who has one older sister named Sydney and two younger sisters named Montana and Hunter – was only four years old when she saw the great Williams donning a white dress at Wimbledon and she immediately fell in love with the game of tennis.
The American eventually turned professional on her 14th birthday in 2009 and not long after she won her maiden WTA Tour match, aged just 14 years and 48 days.
In 2014 she went on to win her first-ever WTA Tour title when she lifted the Eastbourne International trophy and three years later she reached her maiden Grand Slam final, but lost against good friend Sloane Stephens in the final of the US Open.
Several up and down years followed and Keys must’ve thought that big Grand Slam title moment had come and gone with her defeat at Flushing Meadows.
But with age comes maturity and Keys finally “got to the point where I was okay” with not winning a major trophy.
With that pressure off, she flourished and that Grand Slam winning moment did eventually arrive at the 2025 Australian Open when she produced an astonishing run as she beat world No 2 Iga Swiatek in the semi-final and reigning champion and world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final to lift the title.
It was a richly deserved Grand Slam moment, not just for Madison, but for her parents Rick and Christine, who sacrificed a lot over the years to help her to get to the top.
Who are Madison Keys’ parents Rick and Christine Keys?
Rick and Christine hail from Rock Island in northwestern Illinois in the United States and they welcomed a girl, whom they named Madison, into the world on 17 February 1995.
Rick is an attorney and former college basketball player and Christine was also into the law as she was an attorney specialising in personal injury and workers’ compensation.
Madison was only four when she found her passion for tennis and Rick told Vavel back in 2015: “It all started when Madison came to us out of nowhere and said she wanted to play tennis. She had seen Venus Williams on TV in a pretty dress and decided that’s what she wanted to do.
“Madison was a dancer but we wanted to support her so we got her a racquetball racket and she started to hit on the wall. She would hit all day long. Her passion was evident so we got her into local clinics. Soon she was beating everyone in sight so we needed to look for a more challenging environment.”
The family moved to Florida as the young Madison was signed up at the Evert academy and she told her father: “‘Dad, I feel so normal and happy here'” with Rick adding “this obviously was a big moment because she knew she belonged with these talented young stars”.
The family knew “if we stayed in Illinois the dream would die. There was no looking back”.
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Rick added: “I called many other top pros and they all agreed if you were going pro these years are the most important. Well ! we were now all in. We had to get a place near Evert academy, made arrangements to move kids there and still maintain a place in Rock Island to take care of business. It was a whirlwind and a monumental investment that we knew nothing about.”
Christine quit the legal profession for a decade as she took on several roles to support her daughters with Rick saying she was “mother, chauffeur, cook, support team, school etc. Mostly on her own”. He continued: “We both had to make sacrifices and take on significant roles to make it work.”
And work it did as Madison performed on and off court with Christine revealing in 2018 on a United States Tennis Association video: “The best part about being a mom is watching your child figure out a problem.
“When they can figure something out based on the skills that you’ve helped them develop and they actually are successful at making a good decision, that’s the best part.”
Christine eventually returned to law in 2015, but in 2022 she took on a new rewarding role as she became the president of her daughter’s charity, Kindness Wins.
“No one knows me better than my mom. So when I had to hire someone to run my charity @kindnesswinsfoundation, I couldn’t think of a better person,” Keys wrote.
“My mom is the President of Kindness Wins, handling all of the fundraising and charitable outreach we do, and she knows exactly what I’m passionate about when it comes to helping others!”
And Kindness Wins has gone from strength to strength, just like Madison Keys on and off the court thanks to the help of Rick and Christine.
