AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 24, 2026

Madison Keys

Press Conference

M. KEYS/K. Pliskova

6-3, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Maddie, well done. Back into the round of 16 here. Just talk us through what you're most pleased about today.

MADISON KEYS: I think overall I played a pretty clean match. Was really happy with kind of being able to get off to a good start. Then I think my serve got me out of a few tricky moments today.

But overall, just pretty happy with how clean it was.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. The earlier start, how did that affect your routine, if any, and just the relief of being able to finish before it got hotter out there?

MADISON KEYS: I mean, obviously it's a little bit earlier, but not that big of a deal. I like to go to sleep at, like, 9:00 every night anyways (smiling). Just kind of shift everything slightly earlier.

Obviously super happy to be able to just kind of get out there before the heat got extreme and just kind of have a straightforward match and get in and get out early.

Q. Did you feel it getting hotter as the match wore on?

MADISON KEYS: A little bit. I didn't really notice it that much, to be honest. Coming off the court, I was actually kind of surprised by how hot it was actually reading. It didn't feel that bad to me out there, but it obviously helps finishing as early as we did.

Q. Does it now feel like you're not necessarily, like, defending a title, this big thing, and that it just sort of feels like a normal tournament now that you're into a few matches? Is that thing still sort of out there?

MADISON KEYS: I think it's still out there, but I definitely feel like I've gotten more comfortable just within the tournament. I feel like that's typically the reality of most Grand Slams. The first round or two you kind of always feel those extra nerves, and then you kind of find your footing a little bit better and feel like you can find just a better level as the tournament goes on.

Q. Obviously you avoided the real searing heat today. When you are going to be playing in those conditions, what steps do you take preparation-wise?

MADISON KEYS: Typically, obviously focus on making sure that you're hydrated, trying to up the electrolytes a little bit more. Then you have to be, as far as making sure that you're getting your carbs and all of that. I typically drink them, have a carb drink. Just make sure that you're getting all of that in just to make sure that the heat isn't taking even more out of you.

I typically go up in my tension a little bit. Not today. Only went up a pound, because obviously I was playing earlier. Depending on what the weather changes would be like, I think there's been times where I've gone up even three, four pounds.

Q. So it's not flying off?

MADISON KEYS: Yes, exactly.

Q. For defending champion title, is it something you lean into and embrace? How does that affect you when you're coming up against someone who is powerful and you know so well?

MADISON KEYS: I think at this point it's, I guess, kind of become old news a little bit. So definitely feeling a lot more comfortable. At this point just really trying to kind of keep my head down and just take care of my matches and worry about what's directly in front of me.

Playing Jess is going to be really tough. She's obviously a very, very good tennis player and is just consistently going deep in every single tournament that she plays.

So she's always someone that makes life very tricky being on the opposite side of her, but I'm looking forward to it.

Q. This is going to be the first match in Grand Slam history between two podcast co-hosts.

MADISON KEYS: It's a very niche headline (laughter).

Q. You can't buy that kind of advertising. How are you going to commemorate this? Jess was saying you are going to do a pre-match show. What is the buildup going to be like?

MADISON KEYS: We are filming tomorrow. She said she wants to have, like, whoever loses, like, the other person can come up with something. She wants to make me eat her disgusting apple pie with cheese on top of it if I lose, which I said I refuse, so she's going to have to think of something else.

We're both going to try to think of something to kind of commemorate this moment. I mean, hopefully we have more times where we meet later in tournaments where we get to play each other. We can see how this one goes and then hopefully be able to capitalize on it and then see how we want to do it in the future, as well.

Q. Trash talk in tomorrow's episode, you think?

MADISON KEYS: I don't know if either of us really trash talks very well, so I don't know how it's going to go. I'm sure we're going to, for sure, find some way to at least talk about it and hopefully make it entertaining.

Q. Could you elaborate on apple pie with cheese?

MADISON KEYS: Yeah, it's gross. We were doing this Thanksgiving podcast. We were talking about what's your favorite foods, your favorite desserts, whatever.

Jess was like, Yeah, it so good. You take apple pie. You put a piece of cheddar cheese on top of it, and then you -- cheddar, yellow cheddar... exactly. Then you microwave it and then eat it.

Q. You bake the pie first?

MADISON KEYS: You bake the pie first, and then you put the cheese on top of it. But it's yellow cheddar cheese.

She tried to make it sound like it was the most normal thing ever, and we were all just disgusted. She tried to double down and said, No, it's amazing.

So our producer tried it and was, like, the is grossest thing. All I could envision, I definitely made it worse in my head, because I was envisioning, like, a Kraft Singles gross, square piece of cheese. She's like, No, you use a good piece of cheddar. Doesn't make it better (laughter).

Q. Being from Florida, obviously you're used to dealing with the heat. What are the toughest conditions you played in? Ever an experience where it was too much?

JESSICA PEGULA: There's been a few incidents where it just felt so hot. I think most of mine that I can think of probably have happened in the summer in the States. Like the US Open sometimes, especially on Ashe, it's just so humid and also hot. Even Cincinnati last year was brutal. It was so hot for so many days.

Training in Florida, I think definitely prepares you for a lot of the hot weather. I feel like here, obviously it gets to the point where you have to have suspended play. But I find that sometimes it's almost easier to play because it's a drier heat, so at least you're not also sweating.

I find the conditions where we have to play where the heat is very high, but also it's super humid, I feel like that's typically when you see more of us struggling just because also the fluid loss is just so much more.

Q. On playing Jess, I feel like when tennis players play their friends, they say it's something they're used to. For a non-athlete that can't fathom being in that situation, how could you switch off the friendship side?

JESSICA PEGULA: I mean, I want to win, so I kind of just remember that (smiling).

I think it's I guess as tennis players, like you said, it's not that deep. We've been doing it for so long. We could literally be friends and laughing till the moment we walk on the court. Then in that moment we both want to win and we both are competitors. We're going to do whatever we can to get the W.

The moment it's over, you're back to being friends. I think those are one of those things that I actually really love tennis, because it's taught a lot of us how to just kind of manage our friendships and relationships and be able to genuinely love each other and are close and all of that, but also still be really competitive.

Q. You mentioned you're filming tomorrow. Do you normally socialize during a big tournament, go out the dinner with Jess or your other close friends? About the making each other laugh, have you ever tried to make a friend laugh into the middle of a match?

JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, I socialize during tournaments. Otherwise, I'd be pretty depressed probably (smiling).

Yeah, we always are kind of trying to do things, whether it's go to dinner. We do escape rooms a lot. Just kind of hang out. We're all very committed to getting an episode of our podcast out every week. We have to figure out times that work for everyone. It just happens that tomorrow is the best day.

No, I've never tried to make a person laugh mid-match. I think that's probably the last thing that I'm trying to do on the court.