Tennis Atlantic

USTA Australian Open Wild Card Playoffs winner Madison Keys won her first round match in Melbourne against Australian counterpart Casey Dellacqua by a count of 6-4, 7-6(0). Dellacqua is a rising star of Australian tennis who has been graced with wild cards from her home nation, but the battle of the future superstars went to Keys last night. The fact that Keys was able to overcome the heavy crowd favorite in the first round gives her valuable experience heading into the future of this Open and the next.

Keys sees Austria’s Tamira Paszek in the second round. The 30 seed in the tournament, Paszek is a powerful player whose recent inconsistency gives Keys a reasonable shot of advancing to the third round of a Grand Slam for the second time in her very young career.

Hopefully, this match will be played either early or late in Melbourne so East Coast fans can have a live look. After she beat Dellacqua, I wouldn’t expect organizers at Melbourne Park to do us any favors.

—S. Fogleman