The journey from “never interfering” and feeling “very uncomfortable” about giving Madison Keys tennis advice, to becoming the coach who guided her to her first Grand Slam victory, has been nothing short of remarkable for both Keys and her husband, Bjorn Fratangelo.
Their tennis story, which culminated in Keys’ triumph at the Australian Open, reflects a blend of patience, adaptation, and growth. But it wasn’t always this smooth. The pair, who started dating in 2017, got engaged in March 2023. Yet, during those early years, Fratangelo maintained a strict boundary—”never saying a word about tennis.”
Things began to shift in June 2023 when Fratangelo stepped into the role of her head coach. In a candid interview on Good Morning America, Keys revealed that this change wasn’t something Fratangelo initially embraced. She confessed that he was “forced” to take on the coaching role, admitting that he was “very uncomfortable” with telling her what to do. She had to push him into the position, noting, “He started helping me about a year and a half, two years ago, and he really didn’t want to. He said he was very uncomfortable with telling me what to do and did not want to do it. I basically had to force him to come with me.”
By November 2024, the couple had tied the knot, marking a new chapter in both their personal and professional lives. Since then, they’ve found incredible success together, starting with their first title as a married couple at the Adelaide International in early 2025, followed by Keys’ first Grand Slam win of the season at the Australian Open shortly after.
Looking back, Fratangelo admitted that early in their relationship, the two made a conscious effort not to cross into each other’s professional spheres. In an appearance on the Served With Andy Roddick podcast, he reflected, “Typically, you get to know each other, and things go like that. In our case, I’ve actually watched her for the last seven years and never said a word about tennis. We stayed out of each other’s careers, pretty much. We did a really good job of never butting in. If we were to talk about tennis, it would just be how we’re feeling emotionally. If we’ve been on the road for five weeks, we want to come home or things like that.”
But as Fratangelo struggled with injuries, the transition to coaching wasn’t easy. Suddenly, he was thrust into the role of guiding Keys, and it felt “weird” to be in that position. He recalled, “I was still having a lot of pain, so I didn’t really want to hit too much. All of a sudden, I was behind her and I was like, ‘This feels weird. I don’t like telling you what to do, I’m uncomfortable.'”
Initially, the coaching dynamic felt unstructured, with Fratangelo primarily observing from the sidelines as Keys worked with some junior players. Over time, however, the situation evolved as Keys grew more direct in her needs. “I need help. I need serious help and please help me,” she said. It was then that Fratangelo realized he had to step up and embrace his role as a coach. Once he got comfortable with the idea of offering advice and feedback, things began to flow more naturally. He explained, “Once I grappled with the fact that ‘okay, now I actually have to tell her what to do,’ it became a little easier for me because it’s coming from her.”
He went on to describe how, unlike the typical start of a coaching relationship where both player and coach take time to feel each other out, their approach was more urgent. Keys, during a period of doubt and anxiety, was craving clear guidance, and Fratangelo recognized this. He noted, “It wasn’t like when you have a new coach, you take days to get to know each other, nobody is saying a whole lot, maybe the player says ‘this is where I am messing up, this is where I can do better’ and then you maybe have dinner, get to know each other.”
Through this transformation, Fratangelo and Keys have come to form a seamless partnership, both professionally and personally, achieving great things together as they continue to build on their shared journey toward success.