MELBOURNE, Australia — Defending champion Madison Keys struggled early in Tuesday’s first spherical match on the Australian Open, however held on and received 7-6 (6), 6-1 behind the unorthodox fashion of play from Oleksandra Olnikova.
The ninth-seeded Keys, enjoying his fiftieth Grand Slam event, dug himself right into a deep gap at Rod Laver Area. She trailed 0-4 within the first set however rallied to drive a tiebreak towards the Ukrainian.
Olinkyoka, enjoying in her first Grand Slam foremost draw, raced to a 4-0 lead within the tie-break, however was unable to transform two set level probabilities.
“Clearly, I used to be very nervous at first,” Keyes stated. “As nervous as I used to be…I am actually blissful to be again and get by the sport.”
After the sport, Coach Keys praised Olynikova, who signed autographs on the courtroom, obtained loud applause, and waved a Ukrainian flag.
“Our opponent as we speak was unbelievable,” Keys stated. “She received off to an excellent begin. She’s an excellent competitor. She positively made it tough for me.”
Olynikova stopped Keys’ momentum with random pictures, together with a excessive lob (moonshot), particularly within the first set, forcing Keys deep into the baseline. The Ukrainian participant’s sturdy protection and unconventional play additionally gave her the higher hand early within the match.
“It’s a bit of bit like unconventional fashion,” Keyes stated. “I really feel like that made it further tough early on. I felt like I actually discovered my recreation on the finish of the tiebreak and was capable of carry it into the second set.”
Olynikova has quite a few tattoos on her face and different areas, however she stated they’re short-term and can wash away, and acknowledged that her fashion of play can overwhelm opponents.
“Ever since I began my skilled profession, I’ve heard that I am not going to be within the prime 1,000, then prime 500, then prime 300, then prime 100,” stated Olnikova, who’s ranked 92nd. “Persons are saying you possibly can’t progress with this fashion of recreation.
“However actually, my concept is to do ‘bizarre’ issues on the courtroom however be the perfect participant in this type of recreation. I imply, I noticed as we speak that even should you’re the most effective gamers on the earth, that is actually disagreeable.”
In Tuesday’s different early video games, two seeded ladies misplaced. Indonesia’s Janice Chen defeated twenty second seed Leila Fernandes of Canada 6-2, 7-6 (1), and Tereza Valentova of the Czech Republic defeated Australia’s top-ranked girl, Maya Joint, thirtieth seed, 6-4, 6-4.
Former US Open champion Sloane Stephens was eradicated within the first spherical by Karolina Pliskova, 7-6 (7), 6-2. Stevens, who needed to qualify this yr, received the U.S. Open in 2017.
