Madison Keys tied the knot on Sunday with her long-time boyfriend, Bjorn Fratangelo, who also happens to be her coach. It is fascinating that Fratangelo has had a connection with the sport since childhood. His father, a big fan of Bjorn Borg, named him after the Swedish star.
Originally from Pennsylvania, Fratangelo, who turned pro in 2012, first met Keys at the Chris Evert Tennis Academy in Florida. They trained at the same facility and later found out that they shared the same apartment complex. The love between them blossomed from there on.
Although his first claim to fame was the junior singles title at the French Open 2011, Fratangelo, who reached as high as 99 in the ATP rankings, opted to go for coaching by getting certified by the USTA. Little would he have known that the certification would help him find the love of his life.
Madison Keys and Bjorn Fratangelo are getting married today! Wishing them all the best! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/3YIimBTTyo
— LaWanda (@lawanda50) November 23, 2024
They have been together since 2017 and only got engaged in March 2023. Interestingly, around the time of their engagement, Fratangelo started coaching Keys. It was after she terminated her agreement with her previous coach, Georgi Rumenov.
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Her success on grass last season, when she reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon 2023, was largely due to Fratangelo helping her out. According to Keys, the coach-player partnership has helped her spend more time with him because of the demanding schedule of the WTA Tour.
However, Keys has been a sweet taskmaster and gave Fratangelo another big job before they got married.
Keys joked about breaking up with Fratangelo earlier in 2024
In an interview with Tennis Channel, she spoke about being excited about her new house, in which she is now staying with him.
However, she gave the responsibility of ensuring that the house was well-constructed to Fratangelo since she was in Europe for the clay swing.
“It’s going to be done when we get home from Paris. I’m not married yet, but if it’s not done yet, I will be getting divorced. So no pressure to the contractors,” Keys joked.
Of course, the house turned out to look incredible, and Keys expressed her delight with the same on social media.
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In a separate interview with WTA’s Insider Podcast in September 2024, the 29-year-old Keys spoke about how marriage has a better chance of success only when you live with your partner and attempt a “home renovation” before tying the knot. She was quoted as saying,
“But do those things while you’re planning a wedding. It’ll really make things clear on if your marriage will be successful.”
When it comes to her family, Keys has sports in her genes since her father, Rick, was a college basketball player in Division III at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. Both her parents are attorneys. She is the second eldest out of four siblings. But Keys is the only one to have taken up tennis professionally.
