Pegula Wins Friendly Rivalry Match Over Defending Champion Keys in Melbourne

By Erik Gudris | Sunday, January 25, 2026
Photo credit: AO Facebook

In an anticipated All-American fourth round encounter between two good friends, fellow podcast hosts, and with an added friendly wager, Jessica Pegula ended defending champion Madison Keys’ title defense at this year’s Australian Open.

The sixth seeded Pegula played a near perfect match to oust the ninth seed Keys 6-3, 6-4 in 78 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.

Pegula mixed power with precision to keep Keys on the back foot for most of the match from start to finish to reach the last eight in Melbourne.

“I’ve been playing really well, seeing the ball really well, hitting the ball really well this whole tournament, and I wanted to stay true to that and lean on a couple of things that I felt like she would do,” Pegula said in her on-court interview.

“I felt like I came out doing it pretty well and got a couple of quick points for her early on. When I had that lead, I tried to stick with that lead as much as I could … and tried to focus on what I needed to do and the patterns to look out for. 

Pegula entered the match having lost her last two match against Keys, including in last year’s Adelaide final. 

Yet today’s match saw Pegula take control in the first set with an early break before moving ahead 3-0. 

Keys, for her part, looked a tad unsettled, which included shanking a serve well long and then later hitting a badly mistimed overhead. 

Keys eventually found some rhythm, especially with her backhand returns on Pegula’s second serve. Keys managed to get the break back for 3-4, but her momentum was short lived.

Errors crept into Keys’ game again and she soon surrendered yet another service break. 

Soon enough, Pegula closed out the set 6-3 after having only committed four unforced errors.

Keys struggled in her opening service game in the second set in her attempt to hopefully change the match in her favor. The back-and-forth game ended up going in Pegula’s favor as Keys tossed in a double fault down break point.

Pegula then surged out to 4-1 double break lead helped in large part by her ability to return over 70% of Keys’ first serves.

Keys, with her known ability to get very streaky when it comes to winners, did just that midway through the set. Keys managed to pull within a game to 3-4, but it never felt like Keys would find a way to overcome Pegula’s steady rhythm. 

“In the first set, she (Keys) played a couple of really good games, and I had to focus on where I was serving, be smart, take some risk on a couple of second serves, change up the pace as much as I could,” Pegula added. “I had to really trust that I was able to change speeds and hit my spots on my serves. In the second set, I couldn’t see anything into the sun, and I was like, ‘Whatever.’ I got broken (at 4-1)… so I tried not to get too upset at that one.”

Though Pegula struggled with her first serve in the next game, and allowed Keys a break point, that would be the last hope for the defending champion.

Pegula threw down a jamming serve to save the break point and eventually held for a crucial 5-3 lead.

Two games later, Pegula would eventually close out the 6-3, 6-4 victory.

Pegula ended the match with 14 winners and a tidy 13 unforced errors, while Keys hit 26 winners yet committed 28 unforced errors. 

Keys, as part of the friendly wager with Pegula, will now have to eat a slice of apple pie with cheddar cheese on it sometimes down the road. Pegula, whose father owns the Buffalo Bills, won’t be forced to wear a Kansas City Chiefs jersey.

Pegula herself now keeps her sights on an elusive first major title. Next up for her could be either No. 4 seed Amanda Anisimova or China’s Wang Xinyu.