Fourteen-year-old Madison Keys made her WTA Tour debut a memorable one, upsetting Russia's Alla Kudryavtseva 7-5, 6-4 on Monday in the opening round of The MPS Group Championships. The American fell behind 5-2 in the first set but used powerful ground strokes to break Kudryavtseva twice and a serve that averaged 162.5kph (101 mph) to win the set. Keys lost the first game of the second set before going on a four-game run, and after the 81st-ranked Kudryavtseva fought back to 4-5, Keys won the set with an ace. American Mary Joe Fernandez holds the record, notching her first victory at 13 years seven months, according to the WTA. The youngster could face the tournament's top-seeded player, ninth-ranked Nadia Petrova, in the second round. The Russian opens play Tuesday against Olga Govortsova. Other ranked players in the field include No. 12 Caroline Wozniacki, No. 16 Dominka Cibulkova, who lost in last year's final to Maria Sharapova, and 43rd-ranked Daniela Hantuchova. In other matches, Seventh-seeded Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine beat Sania Mirza of India 6-4, 6-3; Kateryna Bondarenko of the Ukraine beat Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic 7-6 (2), 6-2; and Patricia Mayr of Austria beat Ayumi Morita of Japan 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. This year's tournament, being played at Sawgrass Country Club, has been downsized to go with its new sponsor and a move to a new site. The total purse dropped from last year's $600,000 to $220,000 with the winner receiving $37,000. Last year's winner, Maria Sharapova, isn't playing. Other former champions of the tournament include Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Steffi Graf, Lindsay Davenport, Monica Seles and Venus Williams.
