For the first time in a long time, my nerves paralyzed me," Keys' takeaways after her early exit at the US Open

Madison Keys was knocked out in the first round of the US Open, stunned by Renata Zarazua after a three-hour battle (6-7, 7-6, 7-5).

The No. 6 seed rattled the statistics with a total of 89 unforced errors, including 37 in the first set, which she still managed to win in a tie-break. After this disappointing performance on Arthur Ashe Court, the American and 2017 finalist spoke at a press conference:

"From the start of the match, I wasn’t playing well. I feel like, for the first time in a long time, my nerves took over and paralyzed me. I was very slow, I wasn’t reading the game well, and I made poor decisions.

I feel like I wanted so badly to do well here that it became counterproductive, and I couldn’t handle the stress of a first-round match at a Grand Slam.

Obviously, it’s been a great season, but losing this match was horrible. In any case, if I had faced this situation earlier in the year, I would have accepted it. That’s the magic of this sport—everything can change quickly and when you least expect it.