MELBOURNE, Australia — Defending champion Madison Keys struggled early but held on to defeat Oleksandra Oliynykova of Ukraine 7-6 (6), 6-1 in a first-round match Tuesday at the Australian Open.
Ninth-seeded Keys dug herself into a deep hole at Rod Laver Arena but recovered. 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, giving Keys the opening she needed to take the set.
The first set lasted 1 hour, 12 minutes.
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. Oliynykova’s strong defense and unorthodox play also kept her in the match early.
Keys’ rally in the first set clearly took energy from Oliynykova, who slowly became overwhelmed by the defending champion’s power and pace.
Keys is playing in her 12th Australian Open and her 50th Grand Slam tournament overall. After losing her first main-draw match here — to Zheng Jie in 2012 — Keys has won 11 first-round matches in a row.
