Madison Keys says Serena Williams, Federer, Nadal & Djokovic 'skewed' perception of tennis players because of their greatness

American women's tennis star Madison Keys has opened up on the skewed perception of a modern day good tennis career. Keys made a reference to Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, who won over 20 Grand Slams each in their respective Hall of Fame careers.

Federer retired with 20 Grand Slams, Nadal with 22 and Williams with 23. Meanwhile, Djokovic has the highest among them all with 24 and is still active.

The men's Big 3 and Williams made winning Grand Slams in tennis look easy, but Madison Keys pointed out that it is not. On Tuesday's episode of The Player's Box podcast, Keys, along with co-hosts Jessica Pegula, Jennifer Brady and Desirae Krawczyk, discussed what a good tennis career is.

Keys pointed out the skewed perception of tennis careers while referencing the benchmark set by the above mentioned legends.

"I think players and fans, I think we all kind of have a skewed perception of what a good career is now, because we have Novak, Rafa, Roger, Serena, like, they're winning 20 Grand Slams," Keys said (21:06). "That's insane."

Keys went on to mention that most tennis players get treated differently despite doing very well in their respective careers.

"So now I feel like the bar in people's minds is so skewed, because it's like... people winning one Grand Slam is something that you dream of when you're a little kid," Keys added. "That's beyond. But the fact that there are people who were winning, like, 20, so now it's like, 'Wow, you never made a final?' And it's like, okay, well, you also did all of these other things that are absolutely amazing."

Madison Keys shares new tennis reality after Serena Williams, Federer, Nadal's retirement

Madison Keys, who won the 2025 Australian Open and also qualified for the 2025 WTA Finals, has watched icons like Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic dominate tennis and set a high benchmark for the next generation.

But now that those greats have retired, the dynamic in tennis has shifted. Keys shared that the margin of difference between the top-20 ranked tennis stars has reduced significantly. It's almost like anyone from top 20 can beat any other player on a given day.

“Like there’s no longer Serena Williams in every draw where you just assume she’s going to win," Keys said via The Tennis Gazzette. “On the men’s side, you don’t have Roger [Federer], Rafa [Nadal], and Novak [Djokovic] every single week.”

Madison Keys also mentioned that the sport in itself has gotten faster and physical and the room for error is way smaller.