ESPN News Services
Jan 25, 2026, 09:22 PM ET
MELBOURNE, Australia -- Defending champion Madison Keys has been knocked out of the Australian Open by fellow American, and podcast pal, Jessica Pegula.
Pegula, seeded sixth, defeated the ninth-seeded Keys 6-3, 6-4 on Monday at Rod Laver Arena to reach the quarterfinals. Pegula, who has never claimed a Grand Slam, won the first set in only 32 minutes.
Pegula raced to a 4-1 lead in that opening set, and Pegula also broke to open the second and again surged to a 4-1 lead as Keys struggled with her serve. The match ended when Keys hit a forehand into the net.
"I've been playing really well, seeing the ball, hitting the ball really well this whole tournament, and I wanted to stay true to that," the 31-year-old Pegula said. "Then just lean into a couple things that I felt like she would do, and I felt like I came out doing it pretty well.
"When I had the lead I tried to stick with that as much as I could.
"Even when she got a little rhythm back, I just really tried to focus on what I needed to do and patterns to look out for."
Pegula and Keys had played three times previously, and Keys had won the last two. But on Monday it was Pegula who had the upper hand almost throughout on the back of her serve accuracy and few unforced errors.
The 2025 champion lamented not taking advantage in the second set when she had chances. But Pegula would not let her.
"I think she did a really good job from the start of just being the one that was dictating and in charge," Keys said. "I felt like if I didn't hit a really good ball immediately, she was in charge of the points.
"I was kind of struggling to kind of get that dominance back," Keys added. "Then I feel like especially in the second set I felt like I had some opportunities to break that I wasn't super happy with, just kind of quick errors and not playing the best points in big moments."
Pegula's best performance in a major was making the US Open final in 2024, where she lost to Aryna Sabalenka. She will face either No.4-seeded Amanda Anisimova or Wang Xinyu next.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
