An all-American tennis storyline takes shape at the Australian Open

Madison Keys’ reign at the Australian Open came to an end on Monday at Rod Laver Arena, undone by fellow American Jessica Pegula, who prevailed 6–3, 6–4 in 78 minutes. The defending champion was unable to cope with the consistency and control of one of the tour’s most reliable performers.

Pegula will face another in-form American in Wednesday’s quarterfinals – Amanda Anisimova. The Russian-born player defeated China’s Xinyu Wang 7–6 (4), 6–4 in 1 hour 24 minutes.

A finalist at the 2024 US Open, where she lost to Aryna Sabalenka, Pegula reaches the quarterfinals in Melbourne for the fourth time, having done so consecutively from 2021 to 2023. She improves her record in Grand Slam round-of-16 matches to 9–2 (4–0 at the Australian Open) and also adds to her tally of wins against top-10 opponents, now standing at 27. She has also strengthened her dominance over her compatriots, winning 13 of her last 14 matches against fellow Americans.

What ranking does Keys have?

For Keys, the defeat stings, as it costs her the 1,760 ranking points she earned by winning the Australian Open in 2025 and drops her six places in the rankings, to No. 15 for now. Her 28 unforced errors proved costly against a composed Pegula, who made just 13 and converted four of her five break points.

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