Defending champion Keys battles past plucky Oliynykova

MELBOURNE, Jan 20 : Madison Keys launched her Australian Open title defence with a 7-6(6) 6-1 win over Ukrainian Grand Slam debutant Oleksandra Oliynykova to reach the second round at Melbourne Park on Tuesday.

Keys found herself in trouble early on at Rod Laver Arena, conceding a double break with untimely double faults, and while she drew level at 4-4 the American was then dragged into a tiebreak where Oliynykova caused more chaos with her deep, looping shots.

The plucky Ukrainian brought up two set points but Keys erased the deficit with some trademark big-hitting to eventually snatch a tense tiebreak, punctuating her escape with a roar.

The shift in momentum was confirmed when ninth seed Keys went ahead 3-0 in the second set and the 30-year-old wrapped up the win on serve to set up a second-round meeting with fellow American Ashlyn Krueger.