Australian Open Madison Keys, Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina advance to third round

(Melbourne) Defending champion Madison Keys beat Ashlyn Krueger 6-1, 7-5 in the second round of the Australian Open on Thursday.

Ninth seeded, Keys won the American duel in an hour and a quarter ahead of Krueger, 62^e in the world.

Keys erased a 5-2 deficit in the second set.

“I would say I started the match really well and Ashlyn was a little slower to get into the rhythm,” Keys said. I expected it to get tougher, and that’s what happened. »

Last year, Keys earned her first major title by beating Aryna Sabalenka in the final at Melbourne Park.

Sixth seed, American Jessica Pegula defeated her compatriot McCartney Kessler 6-0, 6-2, after dominating 6-1 in breaks.

Swiatek dismisses Bouzkova

After a somewhat complicated first round, world No.2 Iga Swiatek was more comfortable in the second against the Czech Marie Bouzkova (44^e) which she dismissed 6-2, 6-3.

“The conditions were not easy, with a lot of wind. So I’m very happy to have adapted well,” commented the Pole with six Grand Slam titles, but who has not yet reached the final in Melbourne.

She will face the Russian Anna Kalinskaya (33) on Saturday.^e) for a place in the eighth.

While she seemed to be in control of the game, Swiatek lost her faceoff at the start of the second set and Bouzkova led 3-1. But the Pole immediately recovered: she lined up four games in a row to lead 5-3 and serve for the match.

Bouzkova saved two match points, but lost on the third.

Rybakina dominates Gracheva

Kazakh Elena Rybakina, 5^e world, logically beat the Frenchwoman Varvara Gracheva (77^e), of Russian origin like her, 7-5, 6-2 in the second round.

“It was not an easy match, including because of the wind. In the first round I tried not to rush and in the second I was able to raise my level and it went better,” commented Rybakina, winner of Wimbledon in 2022 and the WTA Finals last November. She lost in the final in Melbourne in 2023.

The 26-year-old will face Czech Tereza Valentova (54) on Saturday to try to reach the round of 16.^e), whom she had hardly beaten in the second round of the last United States Open.

Gracheva, who was the last Frenchwoman still competing in the women’s draw where there were four in the first round, surprised her opponent by taking her serve at the very start of the match to break away 3-1.

But after new exchanges of service, the Kazakh achieved the decisive break, the third in her favor, in the last game of the set.

She then took the lead in the second set by achieving a first break to lead 3-1 then a second in the final game of the game.

Anisimova qualified

American Amanda Anisimova, 4^e world, qualified for the third round at the expense of the Czech Katerina Siniakova (45^e) 6-1, 6-4.

Despite the net score in her favor, Anisimova was pushed to her limits by Siniakova in the second set which lasted 68 minutes.

“The second round went crazy. She gave me my money’s worth,” declared the American who will face her compatriot Peyton Stearns (68) on Saturday.^e) to try to reach the round of 16 and thus match his best run in Melbourne.

A semi-finalist at Roland Garros in 2019, she returned to the highest level last year with finals at Wimbledon and the US Open.