Madison Keys fought through a leg injury to beat Jessica Pegula 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 in an all-American Adelaide International final Saturday, continuing her good form heading into the Australian Open.
Keys, who also won the Adelaide title in 2022 and made the quarterfinals in Auckland last week, had 10 aces and 26 winners as she took 1 hour, 43 minutes to beat world No. 7 Pegula.
The title was the ninth of Keys’ career and set her up perfectly for a first-round meeting with American Ann Li at Melbourne Park on Tuesday.
“I haven’t been back [to Adelaide] since 2022, and I was lucky enough to lift the trophy then,” said Keys, who is seeded 19th at the year’s first Grand Slam. “And now I’m back, and I’m holding it once again. So I feel like I should just keep coming back to Adelaide. Clearly, I do well here.”
Keys, 29, took 30 minutes to seal the opening set but needed an off-court medical timeout after losing the first three games of the second, returning with her left leg wrapped.
Pegula went on to take the set and force a decider, but Keys responded well in the third, winning the final five games.
Pegula faces Australian Maya Joint in the first round at Melbourne Park.
