It's day three of the Australian Open, and the final day of first-round singles matches. We almost lost defending champion Madison Keys, but the 2025 winner regrouped to beat tricky Ukrainian ace Oleksandra Oliynykova - who competed with tattoos all over her face.

But some seeds weren't as lucky - Aussie hope Maya Joint and teenage sensation Joao Fonseca were among those who suffered upsets. There was another mid-match retirement, and former world No.1 Karolina Pliskova made a winning return to competition against Grand Slam champion Sloane Stephens.

Madi finds the Keys to avoid huge scare

Madison Keys is attempting to defend a Grand Slam title for the first time in her career - but she almost fell at the first hurdle. The American lifted a long-awaited Major trophy here last year and is back as the reigning Aussie Open champion. But she looked set to fall victim to a huge upset when she quickly went 0-4 down to Oleksandra Oliynykova on Rod Laver Arena.

Keys levelled the score at 4-4, but Oliynykova had plenty of opportunities to take the first set. She served for it at 6-5 but got broken. In the tiebreak, she raced into a 4-0 lead and blew two set points, and Keys took it on her first set point after 72 minutes, screaming "come on". It was smooth sailing for the No.9 seed from then on, and she won 7-6(6) 6-1. But Oliynykova was delighted with her performance, waving to the crowd as if she had won, and jumping up to the sidelines to sign autographs for fans. She even stuck around during Keys' on-court interview.

"I have been thinking of that moment for basically a year. It was incredible to walk out for the first time since walking off of the court a year ago, so I'm so happy to be back in Melbourne. Obviously very nervous at the start! But just so happy to be back," Keys said after returning as the defending champ.

Another retirement

Belgian ace Raphael Collignon became the latest player to retire mid-match at the Aussie Open after blowing his lead over No.5 seed Lorenzo Musetti. Collignon pulled off a big upset at the US Open when he stunned Casper Ruud in round two while ranked outside of the top 100.

Now up to No.72 in the world, he hoped to cause another shock over Musetti, taking the first set of their match over on Margaret Court Arena. But the Italian fought back to win the next two as Collignon struggled and received treatment during the third set. He appeared to be cramping, and ultimately called it quits with Musetti leading 4-6 7-6(3) 7-5 3-2.

Oliynykova's eye-catching tattoos

Oleksandra Oliynykova made a big impression with her performance against Madison Keys, despite losing. The Ukrainian star has an unusual game style which threw the defending champion off initially. And she's also unique when it comes to her style, as she took to Rod Laver Arena with her face covered in temporary tattoos. The world No.92 has plenty of permanent ink on her body, and explained why she liked competing with flowers printed across her cheeks.

"It's the temporary tattoos. It's temporary tattoos. I take them off after the match with, like, cleansing oil. And it doesn't have meaning, because I just got some fun idea at the US Open. I was going shopping, and I saw this, like, face tattoo, these fake tattoos. Then I started to change them," she said.

"I played with stars, with hearts, now it's flowers. Yeah, it's part of the style. Maybe you saw it was matching the outfit and the court, as well. Blue dress, blue flowers, blue court."

Seeds falling

It was a bad day for the seeded players at Melbourne Park, with four going out overnight. As the No.30 seed, Maya Joint became the sixth Aussie woman to be seeded here in the last 40 years. But she's yet to win a match at her home Slam and suffered a surprise 6-4 6-4 loss to Czech ace Tereza Valentova. "Honestly, the seeding didn't really feel anything different than to a normal tournament. I wanted to do really well here. I thought I had a good chance. So it's definitely a bit disappointing after today, but I'll just try and get back at it next week," Joint said after crashing out.

No.22 seed Leylah Fernandez was the next to go, losing 6-2 7-6(1) to tricky Indonesian star Janice Tjen. On the men's side, 23rd seed Tallon Griekspoor was sent packing by tournament debutant and world No.80 Ethan Quinn, who won 6-2 6-3 6-2. And Joao Fonseca, who made his breakthrough here as a teenage qualifier last year, returned as the No.28 seed - but called the physio before losing 6-4 2-6 6-1 6-2 to former college tennis player Eliot Spizzirri.

Former world No. 1's incredible return

Former world No.1 Karolina Pliskova made a statement return to competition in her first tour-level match since August 2024, when she played just three points in her second-round US Open match before she heard her ankle crack, retiring and leaving the tournament in a wheelchair.

Now ranked outside of the top 1000 after being sidelined by the ankle injury, Pliskova had to delay her comeback, withdrawing from recent events in Brisbane and Adelaide. But her comeback was worth the wait, and she took a close first set over former US Open champion Sloane Stephens before winning 7-6(7) 6-2.

Venus bows out

Venus Williams returned to the Australian Open for the first time in five years, but it was a short stay for the former world No.1. After blowing a 4-0 lead in the final set of her singles match to lose 6-7(5) 6-3 6-4 to Olga Danilovic, Williams teamed up with Ekaterina Alexandrova in doubles. But they suffered a 7-6(3) 6-4 defeat to Elsa Jacquemot and Emiliana Arango. Could that have been Williams' last appearance in Melbourne?