Madison Keys Says Her Husband Used to Be 'Uncomfortable' Telling Her What to Do as Her Coach (Exclusive)

Madison Keys won her first major with her husband and coach Bjorn Fratangelo by her side — but he was initially reluctant to step into the role.

The 2025 Australian Open champion, who defeated Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday, Jan. 25 to win her first Grand Slam, tells PEOPLE that she had to convince Fratangelo to step in as her coach two years ago. At the time, she had played a portion of the season without a coach, so she asked her then-fiancé, a former top 100 player on the men’s tour, to help her “for the next few weeks.”

“He kind of begrudgingly did it,” Keys, 29, recalls. “It was funny because the first week he was so uncomfortable. He’s like, ‘I don’t like telling you what to do.’ “

Related: WATCH: Inside the Home Tennis Star Madison Keys Bought Herself After Winning a Major Title

Keys adds that while they were both active players, they excelled at “just being a support system” rather than getting involved in each other’s careers.

“It didn’t take that long, but it took a little bit of just getting comfortable with it,” she says.

The pair, who have been together for eight years, quickly acclimated to the new situation, and Keys won a tournament immediately after Fratangelo, 31, came on board. She believes that they “just work really well together,” and with her husband coaching her, they can see each other “all of the time.”

“Now having achieved the biggest thing in our sport and the fact that we got to do it together is just, I mean, it’s one of my favorite things,” says the tennis star, who defeated world No. 1 Sabalenka, 26, and No. 2 Iga Świątek, 23, back-to-back for the title.

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Related: All About Madison Keys' Parents, Rick and Christine Keys

Now newlyweds, the couple was married on Nov. 23, 2024 at The Dunlin in Kiawah River, S.C., which she calls “the best day of her life.” The nuptials saw some of Keys’ closest friends on tour in attendance, including Sloane Stephens, Jessica Pegula and Taylor Townsend.

Keys recalls of the big day: “‘These are all of my favorite people, and they’re all here, and this is just the greatest thing ever.’ And I immediately was like, ‘We should have another wedding because this is really fun.’ “

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