Tested and Triumphant: Keys Reaches AO Third Round

By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, January 21, 2026
Photo credit: Australian Open Facebook

Madison Keys has spent recent offseasons remodeling her home.

Reigning Australian Open champion Keys continues renovating her game at the right time in week one of her title defense.

Keys saved a set point rallying from 2-5 down in the second set with a five-game surge to ward off compatriot Ashlyn Krueger 6-1, 7-5 to reach the AO third round.

“I think I started really well and I think Ashlyn started a little bit slow, I was fully expecting her to raise her level, which she did,” Keys said. “It just kind of got away from me a little quickly. I really wanted to, even if I lost the set, try to get back in the set.

“Once I got that momentum I just tried to sink my teeth into the set and try to do whatever I could to get back into it.”

A red-hot Jessica Pegula won eight straight games dismissing her doubles partner, McCartney Kessler, 6-0, 6-2 to reach the AO third round for the fifth time.

Three-time AO quarterfinals Pegula has permitted just five games in two tournament wins.

“I thought I played a very clean match, kind of executed exactly what I wanted to from
the start,” Pegula said. “Maybe, you know, got a little help from her end, but at the same time, you know, was able to really just play a super-clean match and kind of do what I wanted to from start to finish.

“You know, when those days come around, you take them and you run on with those to the next day, because it doesn’t happen often. She’s a really tricky player and a good competitor. Happy that I got through with not a lot of drama, I guess.”

The 2024 US Open finalist Pegula will play Oksana Selekhmeteva in round three. Selekhmeteva surprised 2025 semifinalist Paula Badosa, 6-4, 6-4.

If the sixth-seeded Pegula prevails, she could face Keys in the round of 16 if seeds hold true to form.

Contesting her 50th major main draw, Keys advanced to the AO third round for the 10th game.

It is Keys’ ninth consecutive Melbourne win.

 The 30-year-old American will play either former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova or Indonesian Janice Tjen for a return to the round of 16.

Today’s maiden meeting between Keys and Krueger played out like two different matches.

Keys commanded the opening set. Firing her forehand with menace, Keys cranked seven winners and converted all three break points snatching a one-set lead after 23 minutes.

The 92nd-ranked Krueger, who struggled to tame her forehand in the first set, played with more poise and precision the second set.

Down 1-2, Krueger reeled off four games in a row breaking at love for a 5-2 lead.

Keys said speaking to her former coach, Hall of Famer Lindsay Davenport, has helped her try to embrace and enjoy the prospect of her maiden major title defense. When she got down today, Keys did not get down on herself.

“The emotions are maybe just, like, a little bit more heightened, but it’s obviously, it’s always been somewhere that I loved playing, and I have had such great memories,” Keys said. “I think in those tough kind of moments like today, getting down in that second set, just kind of reminding yourself that you have been here before, you figured it out.

“I think when you’re able to do that in a place where you have had success, it just feels like it comes a little bit easier.”

The 21-year-old Krueger served for the set at 5-2 only to see Keys flash four forehand winners breaking in the eighth game.

Dallas native Krueger again served for the second set at 5-4 but betrayed her cause dumping three double faults, including a double fault on the third break point. Keys, who rocked a forehand winner to save a set point in the game, broke back to level after 10 games.

Once Keys got even, she coaxed a slew of errors from Krueger over the final two games closing in 73 minutes.

Keys has looked shaky at times—she’s faced at least one set point in two of the four sets she’s played, including rallying for a 7-6(6), 6-1 victory over Ukrainian Oleksandra Oliynykova in round one—but the champion is still standing.

Hall of Famer Andre Agassi famously said “You can’t win a Grand Slam title in the first week, but you can lose it.”

Keys continues to revise her game aiming for another second-week run.