MELBOURNE, Australia — Madison Keys could not pull off another feat of escapology at the Australian Open. The defending champion was beaten 6-3, 6-4 Monday by fellow American Jessica Pegula, ending her defense of her first Grand Slam title.
Keys had won her previous 10 matches at Melbourne Park, during which time her ability to raise her level when behind was arguably her defining quality — most notably when down match point on Iga Świątek’s serve in last year’s semifinal. In her first round this year, Keys trailed 4-0 in the first set of her match against Ukraine’s Oleksandra Oliynykova, and rattled off four straight winners having been down two set points in the subsequent tiebreak.
In the second set of her second-round match against compatriot Ashlyn Krueger, Keys trailed 5-2 before winning five straight games to clinch victory.
Despite a late fight against Pegula, the No. 6 seed, there was no reprieve this time. Pegula broke serve straight away for an early 3-0 lead as Keys started uncertainly, hitting a serve so far out it almost hit the baseline. After an exchange of breaks toward the end of the set, Pegula served it out and broke straight away at the start of the second.
Keys’ game is based around her formidable power from the baseline, which makes her one of the most dangerous players on the tour when on song, as the world No. 2 Świątek and No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka found to their cost this time a year ago. But the low margins Keys plays with can also lead to her coughing up a lot of errors, which was what happened to leave her trailing 4-1 — and by two breaks of serve — in the second set.
In contrast, Pegula’s greatest asset is her consistency: her ability to keep hitting with punishing depth and not getting too high or two low. She spoke Saturday about entering a “flow state” in her dominant first three rounds, where she said she was hitting winners almost without meaning it.
Jessica Pegula has won all of her matches at this year’s Australian Open in straight sets. (Martin Keep / AFP via Getty Images)
Pegula seemed to wake up from that state with the finishing line in sight, as Keys got one of the breaks back and had a point for 4-4. Pegula held on though, to send her compatriot, friend and fellow podcast host out of the tournament.
Going for her shots was what took Keys to the Australian Open title last year, and what had kept her alive at this year’s event, but Monday was a victory for holding steady. Keys hit far more winners than Pegula (26 to 14), but she also made more unforced errors (28 to 13).
Keys will drop from No. 9 to No. 16 in the rankings after this defeat, while Pegula is into her ninth Grand Slam quarterfinal, up against American No. 4 seed Amanda Anisimova or Wang Xinyu on Wednesday.