When Madison Keys smacked an inside-out forehand for a clean winner on match point to win the Australian Open on Jan. 25, it was 4:45 a.m. Central time. Not a lot of America was watching live.
But Monmouth College tennis coach Brian Dahlstrom was.
"Absolutely," said Dahlstrom, who was thrilled to see Keys win her first major title after 15 years as a professional. "I was getting up at crazy times in the morning to watch her play. There's something special about watching tennis at 3:30 a.m. It makes it seem like you're all in."
Dahlstrom watches plenty of pro tennis, to be sure, but matches involving Keys are special, indeed. He knew her way back when, when Dahlstrom was director of tennis at the Quad City Tennis Club in Moline, Illinois, and Keys was an up-and-coming young talent from neighboring Rock Island.
The early days
"When she four or five, she saw Serena Williams playing in a dress, and she told her parents (Rick and Christine) she wanted one," said Dahlstrom. "They said, 'You can have it, but you've got to play tennis.'"
Soon Keys became a regular at the club, although some of her early sessions were more baseball than tennis.
"Her parents, who were both really good athletes, wanted Madison to view tennis as something fun to do, so there were no instructors at first," said Dahlstrom. "She always had a lot of power, and when she was first out there, it looked like 'Home Run Derby,' which was a little strange for the players on the courts next to her."
The future Monmouth coach was primarily working with advanced high school players when Keys began her rise - refining that power - but he hit with her occasionally. So, reluctantly, did one of Dahlstrom's sons.
"My kids would hang out at the tennis center," said Dahlstrom. "When my oldest son was 13 and Madison was 10, I said, 'Why don't you go over there and hit with her?' He was like, 'I don't want to hit with that little girl.' But he did, and he's got a different spin on that story now - 'I got to hit with a major champion.'"
Another of Dahlstrom's sons is also closely linked to Keys.
"My son Reed and Madison were both born on Feb. 17, 1995, in the same Quad City hospital," he said.
That birthdate puts Keys just shy of 30 years old. That's a long time for a player of her caliber to wait for a Grand Slam title, but Dahlstrom said it just makes her victory that much sweeter.
"She beat Serena in a set when she was 14-and-a-half," he said. "There was a pretty high standard set for her to be the next Serena."
But there were roadblocks along the way, which included the presence of Serena, who dominated the first decade of Keys' career on her way to 23 Grand Slam singles titles. Keys also endured her share of injuries, and there were also occasions when she simply didn't play her best tennis when on the sport's biggest stage.
"I know she stressed out some about not meeting expectations," said Dahlstrom.
Now all of that is behind her, and Keys has a major tennis title that no one can take away from her.
"The draw of players she had to beat to make it to the final and win was just insane," said Dahlstrom, who noted that Keys's semi-final victory over No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek was even more impressive than defeating top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka in the final.
"When she played Sabalenka, that was two players just gripping it and ripping it, but Swiatek builds points," he said. "She makes you work for it. Madison had to grind it out and rally some."
Keys also defeated Danielle Collins and Elena Rybakina at the Australian Open and won the lead-in tournament, too, topping fellow American Jessica Pegula in the Adelaide International final. Those five victories against women in the world top 12 have shot Keys up to No. 7 in the latest rankings.
Dahlstrom is beyond pleased that one of the pro tour's most popular players is now a Grand Slam champion.
"Madison is a kind, caring person, and she's one of the favorite pros of the pros," he said. "This is even more special when you know they're a special person. It's been a long time coming, and I'm so proud of her."
Madison meets Monmouth
Dahlstrom's main interaction with Keys came well before he was Monmouth's coach and before Keys moved to Florida to attend the Evert Tennis Academy. But his predecessor, Brian Jordan, met Keys in the Quad Cities in 2015, along with his Fighting Scots men's squad.
"It actually happened by chance," recalled Jordan. "We were scheduled to play Augustana and St Ambrose shortly after she made it to the Australian Open semis. We pulled in the club's lot and it was pandemonium."
Upon entering, the Scots saw that Keys was hosting a clinic for kids who, like her, were from the Quad Cities.
"As we were waiting to get on court, someone from Madison's team came up to me and asked if we'd like to get a picture and meet her," said Jordan. "I, of course, said yes. It's not every day that you get the chance to meet a professional tennis player who has made a deep run into a major championship, let alone have that player grow up less than an hour from campus."
Jordan said it was a memorable moment for him and his squad.
"She was very nice and made a little small talk with the guys on the team," he said. "It's a testament to her perseverance to keep pushing and finally break through 10 years after that breakthrough on the same stage."
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