Keys hurries through to Aussie Open third round

Madison Keys of the US celebrates beating Russia's Ekaterina Alexandrova in their women's singles second round match on day four of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 18, 2018. PHOTO | PAUL CROCK |

What you need to know:

  • Keys is the only survivor in the draw from last year's four American US Open semi-finalists after Venus Williams, Sloane Stephens and CoCo Vandeweghe all exited in the first round.

MELBOURNE

US Open finalist Madison Keys was happy to get out of the heat after barely breaking sweat in registering a rapid 6-0, 6-1 victory over Ekaterina Alexandrova Thursday.

Keys took the first set against her Russian second-round opponent in a whirlwind 16 minutes as temperatures brushed 40 Celsius (104 Farenheit) at the Australian Open.

It seemed the world number 92 might suffer the ignominy of the tournament's first "double bagel" when 5-0 down in the second.

But the 25-year-old, who lives in Prague, gathered herself and was almost in tears after she finally broke her duck in the 12th game of the match to avoid a 6-0, 6-0 embarrassment.

Keys soon closed it out after just 41 minutes and was glad to be heading out of the Margaret Court Arena furnace.

"I played well in the first service game and kept it going from there," the 17th seed said. "I'm glad I didn't spend too long out on the heat."

Keys is the only survivor in the draw from last year's four American US Open semi-finalists after Venus Williams, Sloane Stephens and CoCo Vandeweghe all exited in the first round.

She next faces 104th-ranked Romanian journeywoman Ana Bogdan who is in the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career after beating Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 on Thursday.