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AFP, MELBOURNE
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Jessica Pegula yesterday sent reigning champion and podcast cohost Madison Keys spinning out of the Australian Open, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles in 33°C heat.
Fifth seed Lorenzo Musetti battled the stifling conditions to set up a last-eight showdown with Novak Djokovic.
Keys and Pegula launched day nine in a clash at Rod Laver Arena between two Americans who know each other well.
Jessica Pegula of the US returns to fellow countrywoman Madison Keys in their Australian Open women’s singles match in Melbourne yesterday.
Photo: EPA
They are good friends and also host a tennis podcast together, The Player’s Box, and had even been planning to record an episode on the eve of their match.
All that was put aside as a clinical Pegula dominated 6-3, 6-4 to set up a last-eight encounter with another American, fourth seed Amanda Anisimova.
Anisimova, the beaten finalist at last year’s US Open and Wimbledon, cooled herself off with bags of ice before taming China’s Wang Xinyu 7-6 (7/4), 6-4.
Pegula, the sixth seed, is chasing an elusive Grand Slam title aged 31, her best performance to date reaching the US Open final in 2024.
An erratic Keys made 27 unforced errors to Pegula’s 17 and fired down six double faults as her title defense ended in the last 16.
The forfeit, as a part of a jokey bet with Pegula, would be a slice of apple pie with melted cheddar cheese on top.
“A bet is a bet, so I’ll do it. I hope it’s less gross than I think it’s going to be, but we will find out,” said Keys, who described herself as proud despite the defeat.
Fifth seed Elena Rybakina dismantled 21st seed Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-1, 6-3.
After brutal weather caused the suspension of matches on Saturday, temperatures rose sharply again.
Longer matches had 10-minute breaks in certain circumstances as part of measures to protect player health.
Temperatures are forecast to hit a blistering 45°C today, meaning matches are likely to be played under roofs on the three courts that have them.
Melbourne Park king Djokovic was supposed to play 20-year-old Jakub Mensik in a night match, but the Czech player pulled out injured on Sunday, sending 10-time champion Djokovic into the quarter-finals eight without hitting a ball.
The 38-year-old Serb is to play Musetti after the Italian defeated American ninth seed Taylor Fritz 6-2, 7-5, 6-4.
Djokovic has won nine of their 10 previous meetings, but Musetti said: “I feel ready to try to push him to his maximum.”
In the women’s doubles, third seeds Hsieh and Ostapenko defeated Laura Siegemund of Germany and Sofia Kenin of the US 6-3, 6-2 to set up a quarter-final against fifth seeds Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Luisa Stefani of Brazil.
Additional reporting by staff writer
