VIDEO SHOWS: POST-MATCH PRESS CONFERENCE COMMENTS FROM MADISON KEYS, JESSICA PEGULA, JAKUB MENSIK AND LUCIANO DARDERI AT THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SHOTLIST SHOWS: MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA (JANUARY 22, 2026) (TENNIS AUSTRALIA – See restrictions) STORY: Women's title holder Madison Keys, the ninth seed in the draw, notched up a 6-1 7-5 win over fellow American Ashlyn Krueger but was less than convincing after powering her way through the opening set on Thursday (January 22). The defending champion allowed doubts to creep into her game in the second set, handing Krueger two breaks on serve with a succession of double faults before battling back to progress to the next round to face Karolina Pliskova. "It definitely feels very special, going out. I feel like I've always had pretty good crowd support here, but I think that's heightened now, which is always very nice," Keys told reporters. "I think in those tough kind of moments like today, getting down in that second set, just kind of reminding yourself that you've been here before, you've figured it out. And I think when you're able to do that in a place where you've had success, it just feels like it comes a little bit easier." Sixth seed Jessica Pegula had few issues against doubles partner McCartney Kessler, handing out a comprehensive 6-0 6-2 defeat to her fellow American in 58 minutes and set up a meeting with Russia's Oksana Selekhmeteva in the third round. Selekhmeteva had never been past the first round of a major championship. "I played a very clean match, kind of executed exactly what I wanted to from the start. Maybe I got a little help from her end, but at the same time, I was able to really just play a super clean match and kind of do what I wanted to from start to finish," Pegula said. In the men's contest, 16th seed Jakub Mensik made quick work of Spanish qualifier Rafael Jodar, winning 6-2 6-4 6-4 in less than two hours, while Spanish number 22 Luciano Darderi battled past Sebastian Baez 6-3 1-6 6-4 6-3. (Production: Suramya Kaushik)
(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)
