Fans seated in the upper bowls of the vast Rod Laver Arena are long accustomed to watching tennis from a considerable distance away, but on Tuesday afternoon they enjoyed the rare sight of the tennis ball frequently rising as high as their seats.
That is the magic of Oleksandra Oliynykova, who made life hell for Madison Keys in the first match of the American’s Australian Open title defence with a vicious concoction of drop shots, slices and, most notably, moonballs that seemed to graze the stadium roof. Despite facing two set points in the opener, Keys showed her mental fortitude as she advanced to the second round with a 7-6 (6), 6-1 victory.
This was an essential victory for Keys, but in many ways her 25-year-old Ukrainian opponent, competing in a grand slam main draw for the first time, stole the show. On the court, she has enjoyed a dramatic breakthrough year, rising from No 297 last March to her current ranking of No 92. She won 57 matches last year and seven titles, all on the lower level WTA 125 and ITF circuits.
Keys quickly learned exactly why Oliynykova has won so many matches as the Ukrainian disrupted her veteran opponent with her expert junk-balling throughout their opening set. Oliynykova deprived Keys of any rhythm, racing to a 4-0 lead. She then led 4-0 in the tie-break before earning two consecutive set points at 6-4. Keys responded with an astounding sequence of points, eviscerating four consecutive winners to take the set without hesitation. With the first set miraculously secured, the American rolled to victory.
Asked when she last faced a similar playing style, Keys was effusive about her opponent’s level. “Like 12-and-under,” she said. “And that’s obviously no disrespect to her at all, but it’s just been a really long time to play someone who plays that style, but she does it so effectively.”
“They’re so high and they’re so deep. It was really hard. I felt like I couldn’t really take a swing volley or kind of like take it off of the bounce just because she hits such a good ball off of that.”
This was by far the biggest moment of Olynikova’s career, a grand slam main draw debut against the Australian Open defending champion, and she saluted the occasion by wearing temporary tattoos depicting blue flowers on her face to match the colour of her outfit and her countless permanent tattoos.
Oliynykova’s story away from the courts is even more striking. In 2011, she and her family were forced to leave Ukraine for Croatia as political refugees due to her father’s opposition to Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Russian president at the time. Despite Russia’s continued invasion and bombing of her country, she now lives in Kyiv. Since 2014, her father has been a volunteer for the Ukraine army. Rather than her own name, Oliynykova’s Instagram username is @_drones4ua.org_, the URL of the website she runs to raise funds for her father’s drone unit in the Ukrainian Defence Forces, the 412th Separate Brigade of Unmanned Systems.
“I’m alone here, and before I was travelling with him,” she said. “My father is my biggest support since my childhood in everything. But I’m so proud of him. Actually, this is something that is keeping me motivated even more. After he joined the military, I progressed over 200 [ranking] positions, because I know it was his dream to see me on this court. I cannot explain this feelings, but when you are in this situation, you can put that priorities in your life. I will do everything to make him even more proud.
“When he told me that it was amazing match, he just texted me, and yeah, I made his dream come true in such a situation. What could be more? What could be biggest motivation? I cannot imagine this.”
Such was Oliynykova’s inexperience, the WTA communications staff had to direct the Ukrainian to her obvious seat in the centre of the room for her press conference. She entered the room wearing a white shirt with black writing instructing journalists that she would like to speak further about the Ukraine war, but that she would like to do so outside the tournament.
“I did preparation for this tournament in Ukraine, and during the preparation, I was hearing explosions,” she said. “There were a couple of massive attacks the last night I spent in Ukraine before the trip here. There was an explosion just near my home, and a drone hit the home just across the road. My apartment was literally shaking because of the explosion. I know how people can help to protect Ukrainians, to protect them against these drones, but we will need to speak outside about this.”
