NEW YORK, Sept 1 (Reuters) - American Madison Keys overcame early jitters to down Russian Alina Korneeva 7-5 6-4 in the first round of the U.S. Open on Tuesday, exorcising the demons of her early exit a year ago.
Just months after winning her first Grand Slam title at the 2025 Australian Open, Keys crashed out in the first round at Flushing Meadows after being overcome by debilitating nerves.
But Keys felt more at home this time around - improving her first-serve percentage from 48% in the first set to nearly 70% in the second. She will next meet either Czech Lucie Havlickova or Hungarian Anna Bondar.
"It's so hard to play the first round of a Grand Slam. So nervous and wanting to do well," said Keys. "So gratefulI was able to fight through that."
Keys looked at first as though she would cruise through the match on Arthur Ashe Stadium as she won the first three games but the Russian broke back in the fifth when Keys hit a forehand shot wildly out of bounds.
After trading breaks again, Keys broke her opponent on her third set point with a fine backhand strike and improved her level across the board in a competitive second set.
Down 4-2 in the second set, Korneeva came out on top following a nifty cat-and-mouse exchange near the net to break back but her relief was short-lived.
She was left scrambling for a backhand shot just out of reach as she dropped serve again in the eighth game.
Keys handed her opponent the break with a handful of mistakes in the ninth but regained her composure to clinch it in the next game with one of her signature forehand strikes.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
