By Chris Oddo | Monday June 13, 2016
Madison Keys began her grass campaign with a straight-sets victory over Timea Babos to move into the second round at the Aegon Classic.
More: James Blake Says None of Maria Sharapova's Excuses Hold Water With Him
The seventh-seeded American cracked seven aces and faced only three break points on the day, but still felt that there was room for improvement after her first match on grass in 2016.
“I think for the most part, I played pretty well,” she said after improving to 3-1 against the Hungarian. “I think I started off really well, and then there's definitely some bad moments in there. First match on grass is always really tough. She's a really good player on grass, especially serving-wise. So it's always tough to get a read returning.”
Keys will face either Tamira Paszek or Tara Moore in the second round. The 21-year-old owns an impressive 18-6 lifetime record on grass and was a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon last year.
Also advancing on a rain-soaked Monday at Edgbaston Priory Club was Heather Watson, who defeated Camila Giorgi, 6-4, 7-5, and Jelena Ostapenko, who defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 7-6(2), 6-1.