American and Canadian Women to Watch on the WTA Tour for 2011 - Madison Keys

The tennis calendar has turned to a new year. Another year of players hopping from continent to continent, tournament to tournament, trying to reach their goals and live up to lofty expectations. While some players are hanging on to their career, hoping for wildcards and playing their way through qualifying events, there is a whole new crop of players from North America that have been working for years, inching their way up the rankings with hopes of making a huge breakthrough, and becoming one of the elite players in the world. The WTA Tour is stacked with young players looking to make that breakthrough in 2011. Some are on the cusp, some are still a year or two away. In a multi-part series, we'll look one by one at some of the "young guns" of the WTA Tour from Canada and the United States. Let's see who is poised to make that move in 2011.

Madison Keys

If Madison Keys was a stock on the NYSE you would want to buy now and hold for long-term investment.  The 16-year old has been showing improvement every year, but the real payoff might be 2-3 years from now. 

Madison is currently ranked #484 on the WTA computer in very limited action.  Her best 2010 results included a win over Florencia Molinero, a top-200 player from Argentina at an ITF event in Puerto Rico and a 3-set loss to Maria Elena Camerin in qualifying at the U.S. Open. 

Madison plans to play more in 2011 and that should help her ranking move up.  Her lanky frame has been compared to Venus Williams and Madison has tried to model her game after the oldest Williams' sister.  She plays to work on her fitness and remain injury-free in 2011.  When not playing tennis Madison enjoys going to the movies and hanging out with her friends.

If you are an investor, now might be the time to buy low on Madison Keys as she is a young American tennis player on the rise.