TENNIS: Pegula dethrones Keys to reach Australian Open quarter-finals

MELBOURNE — Jessica Pegula knocked out defending champion Madison Keys at the Australian Open on Monday, securing a dominant 6-3, 6-4 victory to reach the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park for the fourth time.

Facing a close friend and podcast co-host from “The Player’s Box,” Pegula started strong at Rod Laver Arena and only briefly lost momentum early in the match. She remained on course for her first major title.

“I’ve been playing really well, seeing the ball, hitting the ball really well this whole tournament,” Pegula said after sharing a warm embrace with Keys at the net.

“I wanted to stay true to that, lean on a couple things that I felt she would do, and I felt like I came out doing it pretty well. Maybe I got a couple of quick points from her early on.

“When I had the lead, I tried to just stick with it as much as I could. Even then, she got a little rhythm coming back, but I just really tried to focus on what I needed to do and the patterns to look out for.”

Neither player had dropped a set in their first three matches. Pegula played aggressively, taking a quick 3-0 lead before trading breaks with Keys and winning the opening set in just 31 minutes.

Keys, the ninth seed, came out swinging in the second set but was broken in the opening game. Although Pegula lost her serve at 4-1, she handled the pressure and closed out the match.

Keys made 28 unforced errors and six double faults in the match. Pegula said her serving strategy and a bit of luck helped secure the win.

“I had to focus on where I was and be smart and take some serves, change up the pace as well as I could,” Pegula said.

“I feel sometimes my serve comes right into her, and it comes back faster even if I hit a good serve. I had to really trust that I was able to change speeds and hit my spots on my first and second serves.

“Then, in the second set, honestly, I couldn’t see anything because of the sun, and I was like, ‘whatever, I got broken.’ I was trying not to worry about it.

“It was a little tough on that side into the sun … but I tried not to get too upset about that one.”

Pegula will next face either American fourth seed Amanda Anisimova or Chinese player Wang Xinyu.

-Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford/Reuters