![\"Tennis:](\"https:\/\/images.deadspin.com\/tr:w-900\/26813997.jpg\")
Aug 9, 2025; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Madison Keys (USA) serves against Eva Lys (GER) during the Cincinnati Open at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images <\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\nFor the first time in her career, Madison Keys walked out onto a Grand Slam stage on Tuesday as the tournament’s defending champion.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n For the ninth-seeded Keys, the first hour and 12 minutes vs. Ukraine’s Oleksandra Oliynykova represented a major reality check.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n 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.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n 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.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n The American bounced back to win four consecutive games but then trailed 6-4 in the first-set tiebreaker.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n However, Keys blistered four consecutive winners, either set up by or finished with her trademark forehand groundstrokes.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n <\/p>\n Keys made 30 unforced errors in the first set.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n 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.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n “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.”<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Krueger defeated Sara Bejlek from the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-3.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n A pair of seeded players fell in the sunny and breezy conditions in Melbourne. 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.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n 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.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n 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.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n