Madison Keys was all smiles after she breezed into the third round of the Australian Open with a 6-2 7-5 win over Jaqueline Cristian on Wednesday.
The win was a positive start to 2022 for the American who saw her ranking dive last year.
Keys saw her ranking drop to 87 but she ran away with the first set in just 31 minutes, then broke her Romanian opponent to take a 6-5 lead in the second and set up a clash with Wang Qiang after the Chinese player beat Alison Van Uytvanck 2-6 7-6(5) 6-3.
“One of the first things that made me snap out of it was this girl on TikTok. Her name is ‘Tinx’. She’s constantly saying ‘comparison is the thief of joy’,” Keys said.
“It really made me change my perspective on comparing everything I’ve done and doing to everyone around me. It was just making me miserable.”
Earlier, 15th seed Elina Svitolina advanced when Harmony Tan retired from their match with a knee injury and left the court in a wheelchair. Tan was down 6-3 5-7 5-1 when she got injured.
Italy’s Camila Giorgi reached the third round with a 6-2 7-6(2) win over Tereza Martincova.
