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Defending champion Madison Keys has been knocked retired of the Australian Open by chap American, and podcast pal, Jessica Pegula.
Pegula, seeded sixth, defeated the ninth-seeded Keys 6-3, 6-4 connected Monday (January 26, 2026) astatine Rod Laver Arena to scope the quarterfinals. Pegula, who has ne'er claimed a Grand Slam, won the archetypal acceptable successful lone 32 minutes.
Pegula raced to a 4-1 pb successful the archetypal set, and Pegula besides broke to unfastened the 2nd acceptable and again surged to a 4-1 pb arsenic Keys struggled with her serve. The lucifer ended erstwhile Keys deed a forehand into the net.
Pegula was fantabulous with her service accuracy and kept the shot successful the play with fewer unforced errors.
Pegula and Keys had played 3 times previously, and Keys had won the past two.
Pegula reached the U.S. Open last successful 2024 but mislaid to Aryna Sabalenka. It volition beryllium her 4th quality successful the quarterfinals successful Australia.
Pegula and Keys are bully friends and person been doing a podcast together. Keys had said earlier it would beryllium the "first lucifer successful Grand Slam past betwixt 2 podcast co-hosts.”
In a aboriginal lucifer Monday astatine Rod Laver Arena, fifth-seeded antheral Lorenzo Musetti faced American Taylor Fritz, who is seeded No. 9.
In nighttime matches, second-ranked Iga Swiatek was up against Australian Maddison Inglis, and the eighth-seeded antheral Ben Shelton faced Casper Ruud.
Novak Djokovic was owed to beryllium the diagnostic nighttime lucifer astatine Rod Laver Arena connected Monday (January 26) but has had a walkover into the quarterfinals aft his hostile Jakub Mensik withdrew from their scheduled fourth-round lucifer with an abdominal injury.
