MELBOURNE: Defending champion Madison Keys struggled early but held on to defeat Oleksandra Oliynykova and her offbeat style of game 7-6 (6), 6-1 in a first-round match Tuesday at the Australian Open.
Ninth-seeded Keys, playing in her 50th Grand Slam tournament, dug herself into a deep hole at Rod Laver Arena. She trailed 4-0 in the first set and rallied to force a tiebreaker against the Ukrainian.
Oliynkyoka, playing in her first Grand Slam main draw, also raced to a 4-0 lead in the tiebreaker but failed to cash in on two set-point opportunities.
"Obviously I was very nervous at the start," Keys said. "As nervous as I was . . . I'm really glad to be back, and that I got through that match."
Keys praised Oliynykova, who signed autographs, accepted loud applause, and waved a Ukrainian flag on-court after the match.
"My opponent today was incredible," Keys said. "She started so well. Such a great competitor. She definitely made it tricky for me."
Different strokes
Oliynykova kept Keys off stride, particularly in the first set, with random shots, which included high lobs — moon shots — that forced Keys deep behind the baseline. The Ukrainian's strong defense and unorthodox play also kept her in the match early.
"A little bit more of like an unconventional style," Keys said. "I feel like that made things a little extra tricky at the start. I felt like at the end of the tiebreaker I really kind of found my game and then was able to carry that into the second set."
Oliynykova, who featured a number of facial and other tattoos which she said were only temporary — they wash off — admitted that her style of play can throw opponents off.
"Since I started my pro year career, I was hearing that I will not be in top 1,000, then in top 500, in top 300, and in top 100." said Oliynykova, who is ranked 92nd. "All these people telling me that I won't be able to progress with this game style.
"But, actually, you know, my idea is to do my 'weird' things on court, but to be the best player with this type of game. I mean, I saw today that even for one of the best players in the world, it could be really uncomfortable."
Among other early matches Tuesday, two seeded women's players were beaten. Indonesian Janice Tjen beat 22nd-seeded Leylah Fernandez of Canada 6-2, 7-6 (1) and Tereza Valentova of Czech Republic defeated Australia's top-ranked women's player, 30th-seeded Maya Joint, 6-4, 6-4.
Former U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens was knocked out in the first round, beaten by Karolina Pliskova 7-6 (7), 6-2. Stephens, who had to qualify this year, won the U.S. Open in 2017.
In men's play, fifth-seeded Lorenzo Musetti advanced when Raphael Collignon of Belgium retired in the fourth set. The result was 4-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5, 3-2 when the Belgian player quit with an undisclosed injury.
In night matches at Rod Laver, two-time defending men's champion Jannik Sinner faced Hugo Gaston of France and two-time Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka was scheduled to play Antonia Ruzic of Croatia.