Podcast co-hosts Keys, Pegula to clash in Melbourne last 16 / Photo: Martin KEEP - AFP
Podcast co-hosts Keys, Pegula to clash in Melbourne last 16
Defending champion Madison Keys will face close friend Jessica Pegula in the Australian Open last 16 -- but first they will record a podcast together.
Keys powered to a statement 6-3, 6-3 win in 75 minutes over former world number one Karolina Pliskova on Saturday.
The ninth seed will play her fellow American and sixth seed Pegula for a place in the Melbourne quarter-finals.
Pegula raced through 6-3, 6-2 in just 66 minutes against Russian Oksana Selekhmeteva.
United States team-mates Keys and Pegula know each other well, maybe too well, and that includes doing The Player's Box podcast each week.
"Actually I think we're going to try and record tomorrow since we have a day off," said Pegula.
"Maybe it will help the numbers on the pod.
"If we film tomorrow, we can kind of market that it was us recording before we had to play each other."
Asked if there would be some trash talk before they meet on the court in Melbourne, Pegula said: "Maybe that's what we should do.
"We'll see what kind of segments we can come up with. It could be like a trash-talk segment before we play."
There was fierce heat on Saturday in Melbourne, with play suspended on outside courts in the afternoon and roofs shut on the arenas that have them.
Keys and Pegula played their third-round matches earlier in the day, before the suspension rule came into play.
Under fierce sun at Rod Laver Arena, where there was an earlier start than usual with temperatures forecast to hit 40C, Keys came out firing.
She broke the Pliskova serve twice to race into a 3-0 lead in 15 minutes and then held her own for 4-0 and wrapped up the first set in 43 minutes.
There was little between them in the second set, until Keys broke for 5-3 with a devastating forehand return that left former world number one Pliskova rooted to the spot.
"I need to trust in my game and myself," said Keys.
"I am feeling really good and I was excited for the heat today, and ready for it."
Keys stunned world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the final a year ago for her first Grand Slam title at age 29.
She did not win another tournament in 2025 and while she won her two opening matches in Melbourne this year in straight sets, she was nervy and admitted being "too timid".
V.Zimmermann--VZ
