MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 24: Amanda Anisimova of the United States celebrates her victory in the Women’s Singles Third Round against Peyton Stearns of the United States during day seven of the 2026 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 24, 2026 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
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Defending champion Madison Keys is out of the Australian Open, but four American women remain among the final eight.
The four U.S. women reaching the quarterfinals — Coco Gauff, Amanda Anisimova, Jessica Pegula and Iva Jovic — are the most American women’s quarterfinalists at the Australian Open since five in 2001 (Jennifer Capriati, Lindsay Davenport, Monica Seles,Serena Williams, Venus Williams).
Pegula, the daughter of billionaire Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula, took out Keys, 6-3, 6-4, after Keys came into their fourth-round encounter on a 10-match winning streak in Melbourne. Keys finished with 28 unforced errors, as Pegula surged to a 6-3, 4-1 lead she never relinquished.
Pegula will next face fellow American Anisimova, who surged to the Wimbledon and U.S. Open finals in 2025. Both women are bidding for their first Grand Slam titles.
“I’ve been playing really well, seeing the ball really well, hitting the ball really well this whole tournament, and I wanted to stay true to that and lean on a couple of things that I felt like she would do,” Pegula said afterwards in her on-court interview.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 26: Jessica Pegula of the United States acknowledges fans after her victory in the Women’s Singles Fourth Round against Madison Keys of the United States during day nine of the 2026 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 26, 2026 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
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“I felt like I came out doing it pretty well and got a couple of quick points for her early on. When I had that lead, I tried to stick with that lead as much as I could … and tried to focus on what I needed to do and the patterns to look out for.”
Since a loss to Keys in the Round of 16 at the 2023 U.S. Open, Pegula is 28-3 against her fellow Americans, including a 13-1 mark over the past 52 weeks.
Pegula’s record will be tested again in the quarterfinals against Anisimova, who defeated China’s Wang Xinyu 7-6(4), 6-4 later Monday to reach the last eight. The New Jersey native has now advancing to the quarterfinals or better at all four Grand Slams in her career. She enters the matchup 0-3 against Pegula.
USA’s Amanda Anisimova celebrates victory against China’s Wang Xinyu after their women’s singles match on day nine of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 26, 2026. (Photo by DAVID GRAY / AFP via Getty Images) / — IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE —
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Anisimova was broken only once in the 1-hour, 42-minute victory, coming in her opening service game of the second set after she had converted her fourth break point of the match. She broke again to move ahead 2-1 and was never threatened again, dropping just two points across her final four service games.
“I think the fact that I’ve been in the Round of 16 three times, and making that step further is pretty special,” Anisimova said. “And yeah, I love playing in Australia. So just being here an extra day, an extra match, is exciting.
“I’ve been honestly enjoying every second out there. I feel like I’m handling, like, the pressure and expectation that I’m trying to not really think about, but I think that just means a lot more to me that I’ve been able to really handle that well this week.”
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamzagoria/2026/01/26/defending-champ-madison-keys-is-out-but-4-american-women-reach-australian-open-quarterfinals/
