Jessica Pegula unleashed a ruthless, emotionally charged performance to oust defending champion and friend Madison Keys, cruising into the Australian Open quarterfinals with a commanding win. The sixth seed dominated from the baseline, exploiting Keys’ rare errors, and later revealed she had been unaware the match would be briefly halted for Australia Day celebrations.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Pegula was asked if she had been aware of the aviation show during the middle of first and second sets of her match. She replied, “No. I wasn’t briefed about it.”

She added some context, saying, “I did know it was Australia Day, so I think we knew that that’s what it was for. That stuff doesn’t really bother me; we weren’t really briefed on it.” Pegula remained calm, showing she was unfazed by the unexpected interruption.

Reflecting on the moment, she said, “And I was just like, ‘Wow, they’re really having a whole show right now, like in the middle of the match, in the heat of the moment.’ It didn’t last very long, so it wasn’t like that big of a deal.”

(More to come…)