MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Buffalo’s Jessica Pegula was knocking podcast buddy and defending champion Madison Keys from the Australian Open on Monday to set up a quarter-final against Amanda Anisima, another all-American matchup.
Their fourth-round wins on Day 9 meant four American women reached the last eight in Australia for the first time since 2001, when Serena and Venus Williams, Jennifer Capriati, Monica Seles and Lindsay Davenport made it through.
“It’s a shame that an American has to go to the quarterfinals,” said Anisimova.
Pegula had a slightly different take: “At least one of us will come through and I think that’s great for American tennis. Yeah, it’s been pretty crazy how the women have done and how many girls there are at the top. I’m just happy to be a part of this conversation.”
Pegula and Anisimova advanced a day later No. 3 Coco Gauff and 18-year-old Iva Jovic they earned a place on the other side of the draw.
Pegula’s 6-3, 6-4 win at Rod Laver Arena was the first for Keys Defending the Grand Slam title in the hard part of the draw.
Anisimova, runner-up at the last two majors at Wimbledon and the US Open, advanced 7-6 (4), 6-4 over Wang Xinyu as the temperature at Melbourne Park began to rise and organizers rolled out a heat stress policy that allowed more cooling breaks.
“What a battle out there. Tough conditions against a really good opponent,” Anisimova said. “There were a lot of Chinese fans there today, but to be honest, the atmosphere was great.
No. 2 Iga Świątek continued her quest to complete a career Grand Slam with a 6-0, 6-3 win over home qualifier Maddison Inglis, giving the Center Court crowd little to cheer for on the Australia Day bank holiday.
Swiatek will meet No. 5 Elena Rybakina here in 2023, Aryna Sabalenkova’s finalist.
Pegula’s game
Pegula, whose parents own the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, is in Australia’s fourth quarter-final, but has never gone beyond a season-opening major before. Anisimová is here for the first time in the round of 16.
“This whole tournament I’ve been seeing, hitting, moving, I feel very good and going up against a great player like Maddie and the defending champion will be a much tougher task today,” said Pegula, “I still did really well.”
Pegula and keys he had played three times before, with Keys winning the last two. But on Monday, it was Pegula who dominated, taking both sets 4-1.
“I felt like if I didn’t hit a really good ball right away, she was in charge of the points,” Keys said. “I was kind of trying to get that dominance back.
Pegula’s best performance in the majors was reaching US Open Finals in 2024.
Italian men
Three Italians started day 9. Only two could advance.
Two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner defeated compatriot Luciano Darderi 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 (2) two days after admitting he felt lucky to survive third round.
Sinner battled extreme heat and cramps in his Saturday afternoon win over No. 85 Eliot Spizzerry, and took control of this match only after the roof closed in the third set.
His Monday night match was much cooler and so was Sinner. He served a personal best 19 aces and controlled the tempo against Darderi as he won the last seven points in the tiebreak. He will next face No. 8 Ben Shelton or Casper Ruud.
Lorenzo Musetti reached the quarterfinals for the first time in Australia with a 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 win over an sick Taylor Fritz.
It completed a Grand Slam quarterfinal set for the 23-year-old Italian.
Fifth seed Musetti had his run cut short, members of his support team had to return home for personal reasons. After the birth of his second son in November, he had to leave his family.
“I feel more mature on the court. I play better for it and for them,” he said.
His next mission is against a rested Novak Djokovic. The 24-time major winner was scheduled to play in the night’s main event at Rod Laver Arena on Monday, but had a advancing to the quarterfinals after his opponent Jakub Menšík withdrew from the planned fight in the fourth round with an abdominal injury.
The heat is on
With a maximum temperature of 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) forecast for Tuesday, organizers planned to open the gates to fans early. Matches on the pitches in the three arenas are likely to be played with a retractable roof.
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