OLEKSANDRA OLIYNYKOVA went viral for her eye-catching face tattoos and unorthodox game style during her Australian Open first round defeat.
Oliynykova, 25, was making her Grand Slam debut as she took on defending champion Madison Keys on Rod Laver Arena.
The Ukrainian is new to the top table of women’s tennis, having cracked the top 100 late last year.
And she certainly made an impression, despite losing 7-6 6-1 to Keys.
The world No92 sported several flower tattoos on her FACE as she walked out onto court – in addition to more ink on her neck and arms.
After the match, Oliynykova admitted that her face tattoos aren’t permanent.
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She said: “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.
“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.”
Oliynykova stunned Keys, who was beginning her first ever Grand Slam title defence, to race into a 4-0 lead in the first set.
She couldn’t quite get over the line, however, failing to serve it out at 5-4 before squandering two set points in the tiebreak.
Despite her eventual defeat, Oliynykova was proud of her first Major effort, having initially bamboozled Keys with her unorthodox moonballs and groundstrokes.
After the match, Oliynykova turned up to her press conference wearing a T-shirt that read: “I need your help to protect Ukrainian women and children but I can’t talk about it here.”
She then poignantly spoke of her father, a soldier in the Ukrainian army, adding: “He is my biggest supporter and has been since childhood. I’m so proud of him and that’s something that’s keeping me motivated even more.
“After he joined the military, I have improved my ranking over 200 places. I know it was his dream to see me on this court and I would do everything to make him proud.”
With Oliynykova having now broken the top 100, fans can look forward to seeing more of her this season.
Keys, meanwhile, will continue her Australian Open title defence against American compatriot Ashyln Krueger in round two.
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