Madison Keys of the U.S. plays a forehand return to compatriot Ashlyn Krueger during their second round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

The Associated Press

MELBOURNE, Australia — Defending champion Madison Keys survived a tough second-set challenge on Thursday but overcame fellow American Ashlyn Krueger 6-1, 7-5 to reach the third round of the Australian Open.

After sweeping through the first set, the ninth-seeded Keys fell behind 5-2 in the second set but rallied for the victory at John Cain Arena.

In another early match between two American women, sixth-seeded Jessica Pegula defeated McCartney Kessler 6-0, 6-2.

“I think I started really well and Ashlyn started a little bit slow,” Keys said. “And then I was fully expecting her to raise her level, which she did. It just kind of got away from me a little quickly.”

Keys said she tried to get back to basics, hoping she could at least prepare herself for a deciding third set.

Instead, she took the second.

“I just wanted to, even if I lost the (second) set, make sure I tried to get back in the set and try to figure out where my game kind of went and be able to get a few more points on the board,” Keys said. “Once I kind of got back momentum I just tried to sink my teeth into the set and do whatever I could to get back into it.”

Big crowds

The combined numbers for day and night sessions, 103,720 fans, set a full-day record for the third time in four days of the main draw at the season-opening major, which has become a festival of tennis.

Hanging out

Carlos Alcaraz says he got together with Roger Federer for a round of golf before the Australian Open, and it went just as the 22-year-old Spaniard expected.

Federer’s swing, he said, is “as beautiful as the tennis.”

“Everything he does, he does in style,” Alcaraz said. “He’s been playing for two years now and his level is really, really good.”

“I’ve been playing five and he beat me,” he said, laughing. “It hurts, yeah!”

The topic turned to golf in an on-court TV interview after the top-ranked Alcaraz’s 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-2 win over Yannick Hanfmann on Wednesday in the second round of the year’s first major at Melbourne Park.

It was another step closer to his quest to be the youngest player to complete a career Grand Slam in men’s singles — that’s a full collection of the four major tennis trophies.

That’s something Federer, who was back at the Australian Open with his family on a very-much belated farewell tour, had to wait seven years to achieve after winning the first of his 20 major titles.

Alcaraz already has six — two each at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open — and needs the Australian title for the personal Slam. He’s never gone past the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park.

His main rival, Jannik Sinner, has won the last two Australian titles. The pair have split the last eight majors evenly between them in a rivalry now known as Sincaraz.

So it’s little surprise Alcaraz is looking to some of the greats of tennis, like Federer and others, to figure out ways to get ahead.

He has been improving areas of his game, particularly the serve — which now looks very similar to Novak Djokovic’s. So much so that Djokovic, who has won 10 of his 24 majors at Melbourne Park, has noticed.

With Djokovic and No. 2-ranked Sinner on the opposite side of the draw, Alcaraz gets to observe them on his off days at Melbourne Park. And those, for now, don’t involve other sporting distractions.