MELBOURNE, Australia — Defending champion Madison Keys has been knocked out of the Australian Open by fellow American, and podcast pal, Jessica Pegula.

Pegula, seeded sixth, defeated the ninth-seeded Keys 6-3, 6-4 early today at Rod Laver Arena to reach the quarterfinals. Pegula, who has never claimed a Grand Slam, won the first set in only 32 minutes.

Pegula raced to a 4-1 lead in the first set, and Pegula also broke to open the second set and again surged to a 4-1 lead as Keys struggled with her serve. The match ended when Keys hit a forehand into the net.

“I’ve been playing really well, seeing the ball, hitting the ball really well this whole tournament, and I wanted to stay true to that,” said 31-year-old Pegula. “Then just lean into a couple things that I felt like she would do, and I felt like I came out doing it pretty well

“When I had the lead I tried to stick with that as much as I could.

“Even when she got a little rhythm back, I just really tried to focus on what I needed to do and patterns to look out for.”

Pegula and Keys had played three times previously, and Keys had won the last two. But on Monday it was Pegula that had the upper hand almost throughout on the back of her serve accuracy and few unforced errors.

It will Pegula’s fourth appearance in the quarterfinals in Australia. Her best performance in a major was making the U.S. Open final in 2024, where she lost to Aryna Sabalenka.

Gauff having fun

Coco Gauff wants those people posing questions to her about the teenagers breaking through at the Australian Open to remember one thing: She’s 21.

The 18-year-old Iva Jovic will be playing No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park. That’s after Sabalenka, a two-time champion in Australia, beat 19-year-old Vicky Mboko on Sunday in the fourth round.

“The way people ask the questions make it seem like I’m way older than,” the teenagers, Gauff said. “I have been around longer, obviously, but yeah, they’re always, like, ‘Do you have any advice to give them?’

“I’m, like, you guys, these are, like, my peers. We are the same. We are hanging out,” she added for effect, smiling. “We’re in the same age group.”

Gauff has been on tour for more than five years — she made a stunning Grand Slam debut as a qualifier at Wimbledon against five-time champion Venus Williams when she was 15 — but she’s still among the younger pros. She won her first major title at 19.

Seeded No. 3 and a two-time major winner, Gauff reached the quarterfinals in Australia for the third straight year with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 win Sunday over No. 19 Karolina Muchova.

She’s gone on to win the title each of the previous four times she’s beaten Muchova, including the 2023 U.S. Open, her maiden Grand Slam title. When she was still a teenager.