MELBOURNE, Australia – Defending champion Madison Keys struggled early but prevailed over Oleksandra Oliynykova and her unusual style of play 7-6 (6), 6-1 in a first-round match Tuesday at the Australian Open.
Playing in her 50th Grand Slam tournament, the ninth-seeded Keys dug herself into a deep hole at Rod Laver Arena. She trailed 4–0 in the first set and rallied to force a tiebreak against the Ukrainian.
Oliynkyoka, playing in her first Grand Slam main draw, also raced to a 4-0 lead in the tiebreak but failed to convert two set point chances.
“Obviously I was very nervous at first,” Keys said. “As nervous as I was… I’m really happy to be back and to have gotten through that match.”
Keys praised Oliynykova, who signed autographs, accepted loud applause and waved the Ukrainian flag on the field after the match.
“My opponent today was incredible,” Keys said. “She started so well. Such a great competitor. She definitely made things difficult for me.”
Oliynykova kept Keys at bay, especially in the first set, with random shots, including 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 an unconventional style,” Keys said. “I feel like that made things a little extra difficult in the beginning. I felt like I really found my game at the end of the tiebreak and was then able to carry that into the second set.”
Oliynykova, who had a number of facial and other tattoos that she said were only temporary — they were gone — admitted her playing style can throw off opponents.
“Since I started my pro career, I heard that I won’t be in the top 1,000, then in the top 500, in the top 300, then in the top 100.” said Oliynykova, who is ranked 92nd. “All these people are telling me that I won’t be able to progress with this style of game.
“But actually my idea is to do my ‘weird’ things on the pitch, but to be the best player with this kind of game. I mean, I saw today that even for one of the best players in the world it could be very uncomfortable.”
In addition to other early matches, two seeded women’s players were defeated on Tuesday. Indonesia’s Janice Tjen defeated 22nd-seeded Leylah Fernandez of Canada 6-2, 7-6 (1) and Tereza Valentova of the Czech Republic defeated Australia’s top-ranked women’s player, 30th-seeded Maya Joint, 6-4, 6-4.
Former US Open champion Sloane Stephens was eliminated in the first round, defeated by Karolina Pliskova 7-6 (7), 6-2. Stephens, who had to qualify this year, won the US Open in 2017.
In the men’s race, fifth-seeded Lorenzo Musetti advanced when Belgium’s Raphael Collignon retired in the fourth set. The result was 4-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5, 3-2 when the Belgian player retired with an unknown injury.
In night matches at Rod Laver, two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner faced Hugo Gaston of France and two-time Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka was set to face Antonia Ruzic of Croatia.
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