Monfils bids Melbourne farewell as Keys makes nervous start

Jannik Sinner later begins his bid for a Melbourne hat-trick, while two-time former champion Naomi Osaka is also in action on day three.

A jittery Keys lost the first four games before rallying to beat Ukraine's Oleksandra Oliynykova 7-6 (8/6), 6-1 on Rod Laver Arena.

"I've been thinking about this moment for basically a year," the American ninth seed said of walking out on center court again.

"I'm so happy to be back in Melbourne. Obviously I was very nervous at the start."

Keys stunned Aryna Sabalenka 12 months ago in a three-set epic to win her first major crown at the age of 29, but she failed to push on, winning no more titles in 2025.

She started her season with quarter-final exits at Brisbane and Adelaide, admitting before the Grand Slam to feeling the weight of expectation as defending champion.

And so it proved as she threatened to implode against the Ukrainian ranked 92 in the world before finding her feet to pull away with ease in the second set.

Also in the women's draw, Janice Tjen clocked another milestone in her rapid rise as she became the first Indonesian to win a match at the Australian Open in 28 years.

Unseeded Tjen stunned Canadian 22nd seed Leylah Fernandez 6-2, 7-6 (7/1) to surge into the second round and add to her growing list of scalps.

Tjen, who this time last year was ranked 413 but is now the world number 59, is the first Indonesian to win a match at the major since Yayuk Basuki in 1998.

Also through was Elena Rybakina, the fifth seed from Kazakhstan, easing past Kaja Juvan of Slovenia 6-4, 6-3.

Former world number one Osaka, the 16th seed, features in the final encounter of the day on center court against Croatia's Antonia Ruzic.

The 28-year-old Japanese has struggled to get back to the form and fitness that took her to Australian Open titles in 2019 and 2021.