Another interesting match to watch also from Day 1 last night of the Australian Open is the Madison Keys & Anna Blinkova in the women’s singles opening round tie from Margaret Court Arena.
Keys locked in a narrow opening set lead before she was tied at 1-1 apiece by the World No.60 from Russia, having seen some competitive duels that set up a 3rd & final set decider along the way.
As said, although Blinkova did everything possible to try and eliminate the World No.13 from the USA early; However, she just couldn’t find that execution there as Blinkova was outpaced by Keys on the run home. The final score was 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
Unlucky from Blinkova who not only fired off well but also showed some fight back that sent Keys a huge message, especially when she tied with Keys after the 2nd set stage win. But she just lacked the finishing part where she fell just short in the opening set before Keys managed to exploit her weakness area with a clear difference between 1st & 2nd in this final set. It doesn’t mean she’s a bad player though as she can bounce back better next time.
And for Keys, it wasn’t an easy first half with some inconsistency when not only she just closed Blinkova just on time during the first set, but she also fell behind for most of the 2nd set. In the end though, she the final set decider well as her restart where Keys was too good to pull off past her opponent towards the finish line. Now she will face China’s Wang Xinyu for R2 tomorrow after Xiyu def. Australian Storm Hunter – 7-6 (7-2 tiebreaker), 6-4.
