Champ Madison Keys shaky early but advances in Australian Open

For the first time in her career, Madison Keys walked out onto a Grand Slam stage on Tuesday as the tournament’s defending champion.

For the ninth-seeded Keys, the first hour and 12 minutes vs. Ukraine’s Oleksandra Oliynykova represented a major reality check.

After a slow start, Keys cruised in the final 30 minutes and defeated Oliynykova 7-6 (6), 6-1 in the first round of the Australian Open in Melbourne.

Keys could not solve the unorthodox tactics of her opponent in the early going, reached double figures in unforced errors quickly and found herself trailing 4-0.

The American bounced back to win four consecutive games but then trailed 6-4 in the first-set tiebreaker.

However, Keys blistered four consecutive winners, either set up by or finished with her trademark forehand groundstrokes. Keys made 30 unforced errors in the first set.

She carved that figure to seven and only lost 12 points in the second set to advance to the second round, where she will face American Ashlyn Krueger.

“I was actually talking to Lindsey Davenport yesterday and she reminded me that not many people get to be a defending champion at a Grand Slam,” Keys said after the match.

“So just trying to enjoy it and embrace it. And as nervous as I was at the start, I’m really glad to be back and that I got through that match.”

Krueger defeated Sara Bejlek from the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-3. A pair of seeded players fell in the sunny and breezy conditions in Melbourne.

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No. 22 Canadian Leylah Fernandez fell to Indonesian Janice Tjen 6-2, 7-6 (1), while No. 30 Australian Maya Joint dropped a 6-4, 6-4 decision to Czech Tereza Valentova.

The news was not all bad for the host nation, as 20-year-old wild card Australian Taylah Preston defeated veteran Shuai Zhang of China 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.

Other winners in the early matches included former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova from the Czech Republic, her countrywomen Varvara Gracheva, Katerina Siniakova and Linda Fruhvirtova and China’s Xinyu Wang.