Jessica Pegula avoided wearing a Kansas City Chiefs jersey as she defeated Madison Keys to end her fellow podcast host’s Australian Open title defense.
After reaching her fourth quarter-final in Melbourne, Pegula will face another American, fourth-seeded Amanda Anisimova, in the quarter-finals.
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The 31-year-old sixth seed is good friends with Keys, who won her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open last year, which they hosted player box Podcast with Jennifer Brady and Desirae Krawczyk.
They recorded an episode before the fourth round and decided that the winner would choose to forfeit for the loser.
Case decided that if she won, Pegula, whose parents own the NFL team the Buffalo Bills, would have to wear a Chiefs jersey with Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift on the back.
To make sure she avoided wearing the colors at the root of Buffalo’s recent playoff woes, Pegula would make Keys eat an apple pie with melted cheese on top.
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“I was very motivated today,” Pegula said after defeating Case 6-3 6-4. The two chatted in the gym after the game. The two were in good spirits and Pegula avoided losing points.
Jessica Pegula reaches Australian Open quarterfinals for fourth time (Getty Images)
“It’s bad,” Pegula said. “She said, ‘I’ve had it worse.’ I said, ‘What are you talking about? My family owns the Bills. This team owns us in the playoffs.’
“All she had to do was eat a piece of pie. What’s the big deal? I think that was really some extra motivation because that was a tough time for me.”
Pegula said apple pie with cheddar cheese is a Thanksgiving tradition in her family.
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“The bet is the bet, so I’m going to do it,” Keith said. “I hope it’s not as serious as I thought it was, but I think we’ll find out.”
Keys, meanwhile, will drop out of the top 10 in the world after her fourth-round exit, but said she was proud of her return as the defending champion.
Keys says she will leave Australian Open with head held high (AP)
“This is obviously not the way I wanted things to end, but I’m still proud of myself,” Case said
“I think coming back and dealing with all the extra pressure and tension as the defending champion, I’m really proud of how I handled it.
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“It was one of those days where I felt like Jesse had beaten me and I could walk away with my head held high.”
Pegula is seeking her first Grand Slam title, having reached the finals and semifinals each of the past two seasons and coming closest at the U.S. Open.
But so far, she has not dropped a set and will be full of confidence when she meets Anisimova, another US Open runner-up. Anisimova is seeking to win her first Grand Slam title after losing in the finals at Wimbledon and the US Open last season.
“I’m really happy with the job I’ve done with my coach,” Pegula said. “I really believe in that and what we’ve done, and being able to execute those things in a major, for me the second tournament of the year, is going to give me a lot of confidence, not just here but going into this year.
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“I’ve always been the type of player that gets frustrated when I feel like I’m not improving. And I still think at my age I’ve accomplished a lot of really good things. At 31 years old, I still feel like I’m improving as a player. So that’s what excites me the most.”
