Aus Open: Defending champ Keys survives Oliynykova scare to reach second round

Melbourne, Jan 20 (IANS) Madison Keys survived an early scare against the unorthodox Ukrainian Oleksandra Oliynykova at Rod Laver Arena to launch her Australian Open title defence on Tuesday.

Despite trailing 4-0 in the first set and also in the first-set tiebreak, the World No. 9 Keys saved two set points and progressed with a 7-6(6), 6-1 first-round win.

It was Oliynykova’s Grand Slam debut and also her first tour-level match. She had not played since an ITF event in Ecuador in early December and not on a hard court since a first-round qualifying exit at Flushing Meadows to Australia’s Lizette Cabrera last August. Oliynykova, ranked No. 92 on the WTA Tour was facing her first top 50 opponent.

“My opponent today was incredible,” Keys said of Oliynykova. “She started so well, and she such a great competitor and definitely made it tricky for me… It definitely not the typical style that you see every day, which I think makes it a little bit trickier, but just the changes of pace with the higher balls and the slice and she also super fast and got to a lot of balls.

“So really made me work myself out on the other side of the net today, which I was able to do, and then I think at the end, I was just really able to trust myself and take a step back, but then just go for my shots.”

There were several unforced errors and few double faults by Keys initially, but Oliynykova sprinted to a 4-0 lead. After conceding five straight games to trail 4-5 in the first set, Oliynykova rallied to win the next two games and created a chance to serve for the set but could not convert, WTA reports.

The American snuck a chaotic first set after 72 minutes and put her foot down to pull clear in a one-sided second set to keep Capriati’s statistic intact.

The defending champion conceded just one game in the second set and won 90 per cent of the points on her first serve in the set. As the match progressed, Keys had full control of the match in the final set.

--IANS

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