Sawt Falasteen - Aussie Open champ Keys tries to temper Indian Wells expectations

"Coming into this tournament, I would be lying if I said that I don't have more expectations after having the start of the year that I do," Keys said Tuesday as she prepared for her first tournament since Melbourne.

The 30-year-old American thwarted Aryna Sabalenka's bid for a third-straight Australian Open title in January, a triumph that was the culmination of a 15-year journey from teenage prodigy to major winner.

Keys, the fourth-oldest first-time winner of a major since the Open Era began in 1968, said it was "really important for me and for my team to remember how we got there and what we were doing.

"And I think kind of going back to that, and staying really grounded in that is going to be really important," said Keys, adding that she would try to balance honesty in terms of expectations with "knowing that I don't think anyone really thrives when you have such a dramatic mind shift so quickly after success."

Keys is the fifth seed in a WTA field headed by world number one Sabalenka.

Defending champion Iga Swiatek is seeded second ahead of Americans Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula.

Sabalenka, Swiatek and Gauff have won just one singles title among them this year -- Sabalenka's victory in Brisbane -- and none has made a final since the Australian Open.

They'll be trying to reassert their dominance during the US hard court "Sunshine Double" of Indian Wells and Miami.

Sabalenka says she's moved on from her Australian Open disappointment and the Belarusian is eager to put another disappointing February behind her after early exits in Doha and Dubai.

"February is not my month, I believe," said Sabalenka, adding that now that she's rested she really wans "to go as far as possible" in the California desert.

All 32 seeded players have a first-round bye.

Poland's Swiatek could face a tricky second-round clash with Caroline Garcia if the French veteran wins her first-round match.

Gauff could face 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu in the second round.

Pegula's quarter includes 2023 champion Elena Rybakina and 17-year-old Dubai champion Mirra Andreeva of Russia.

The quarter also includes a pair of marquee first-round matches, with former world number one Naomi Osaka, the 2018 champion, taking on Colombia's Camila Osorio.

Japan's Osaka is playing her first tournament since the Australian Open, where she retired from her third-round match against Bencic with an abdominal injury.

Czech Petra Kvitova, back in action after taking a 15-month break and having a baby, faces Varvara Gracheva in he first round, with the winner earning a second-round match against Andreeva.

Y.AlMasri--SF-PST