Where is Madison Keys keeping her Australian Open trophy? 

When Madison Keys won the Australian Open in January over world No. 1 and two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, the emotions were evident: The veteran held her long-awaited first Grand Slam trophy close throughout her entire championship speech.

Still smiling as she returns to tournament play this week at the BNP Paribas Open, Keys revealed that the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup remains close.

“I actually took the trophy home with me,” she told reporters Tuesday. “It made it on multiple flights in one piece, so that was good.

"It's very large, so it's currently just sitting in our guest bedroom until we have a proper space for it.”

Read more: Madison Keys walks Brighton Beach for Australian Open champion's trophy shoot

The BNP Paribas Open will be Keys' first tournament since lifting her first Grand Slam trophy for two reasons: Her ranking boost following the Slam made her ineligible for a previously-announced commitment to the WTA 250 in Austin, and a leg injury forced her out of both Doha and Dubai.

But ahead of her first match in more than a month, Keys spoke about how winning the Australian Open has changed her mentality.

“I would be lying if I said that I don't have more expectations after having the start of the year that I do,” Keys said.

“But, I think at the same time it's really important for me and for my team to remember how we got there and what we were doing.”

As an American whose ranking jumped to a career-high in the Top 5 as a result of her early success this season, there are also a lot of eyes on Keys in her return to U.S. soil. And after top seeds didn’t perform as well in back-to-back WTA 1000s in the Middle East, the women’s draw appears to be wide open for the taking.

But Keys isn't letting any outside noise get the better of her. Tennis Channel analyst and Keys' former coach, Lindsay Davenport, admitted on a media call that Indian Wells has never been Keys' favorite surface (she's only made the quarterfinals once in 11 trips to the desert), so persevering in her first tournament post-Slam title will be tough.

Read more: Will Madison Keys and the top tier reassert themselves at Indian Wells?

“Staying really grounded in that is going to be really important,” Keys continued. “I think really just trying to go back to what worked [in Australia] and what we were doing and what we were focusing on and continuing to try to keep that mindset.”

Read more: Tennis.com expert panel predicts the BNP Paribas Open

Keys takes on the winner of Jessica Bouzas Maneiro and Anastasia Potapova in the second round at the BNP Paribas Open. She has yet to compete against Maneiro at the tour level, and would be meeting Potapova for the third time, but a first since 2021.

Watch all live and on-demand matches from the BNP Paribas Open exclusively on Tennis Channel.