Podcast buddies Madison Keys and Jessica Pegula to clash in fourth round

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Defending champion Madison Keys has a blunt message for her next-round opponent and podcast buddy Jessica Pegula ahead of their looming round-of-16 clash – she is not going to eat apple pie smothered in melted cheddar cheese if she loses.

Sorry, say that again, Madison?

“She wants to make me eat her disgusting apple pie with cheese on top of it if I lose, which I said, ‘I refuse’,” she declared.

OK, let’s give this some un-tennis-like banter some context. Keys and Pegula are more than just rivals on tour.

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The high-achieving American pair are friends. They are also both from Florida and each week record a podcast called The Player’s Box alongside fellow tour professionals Jennifer Brady and Desirae Krawczyk, discussing wide-ranging topics such as leaving credit cards at restaurants and going to MJ: The Musical while staying in Melbourne.

On Monday, they will put their friendship to the side to trade blows at Melbourne Park. The winner will to advance to this year’s quarter-finals.

Pegula and Keys made it through Saturday’s draw in impressive fashion. Pegula, 31 and the No.6 seed, defeated Oksana Selekhmeteva 6-3, 6-2 on Margaret Court Arena, while 30-year-old Keys put paid to Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-3 on Rod Laver Arena.

Both matches were finished by midday with the mercury hovering around a respectable 30 degrees at that stage.

But before their eagerly anticipated round-of-16 clash, they are scheduled to record their next episode of The Player’s Box on Sunday – possibly the first time podcast co-hosts have played off in a grand slam event.

“We’re both going to try to think of something to kind of commemorate this moment,” Keys said.

Such as a punishment for the loser – as long as it doesn’t involve apple pie with cheese.

“It’s gross,” Keys said, doubling down on her friend’s bizarre eating habit. “We were doing this Thanksgiving podcast. We were talking about what’s your favourite foods, your favourite desserts, whatever.

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“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

microwave it and then eat it.

“She tried to make it sound like it was the most normal thing ever, and we were all just disgusted.

“Our producer tried it and was, like, ‘This is the grossest thing’. I definitely made it worse in my head because I was envisioning a Kraft Singles. She’s like, ‘No, you use a good piece of cheddar’.”

Keys and Pegula launched their podcast during last year’s US Open to give tennis fans a behind-the-scenes peek at life on the circuit. This coming episode takes on a unique perspective.

They have not played each other on tour since Keys won a three-set battle - 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 - on the Adelaide hard courts in January last year. She leads their head-to-head battle 2-1.

So, what can we expect?

“I don’t know if either of us really trash talks very well, so I don’t know how it’s going to go,” Keys said.

“I’m sure we’re going to find some way to at least talk about it and hopefully make it entertaining.”

Pegula said she did not even realise they were scheduled to meet in this year’s event until she checked the draw during her previous round.

“If we film tomorrow [Sunday], we can kind of market that it was us recording before we had to play each other,” Pegula said.

“We’ll see what kind of segments we can come up. It could be like a trash-talk segment before we play.”

Either way, Keys does not expect their off-court offerings to interfere with their on-court rivalry.

“We could literally be friends and laughing until the moment we walk on the court,” she said. “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’.

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“The moment it’s over, you’re back to being friends. I think those are the things that I actually really love about 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 ... but also still be really competitive.”

Keys and Pegula are among a large group of Americans making their presence felt in this year’s tournament.

World No.3 Coco Gauff is playing in the round of 16 on Sunday, while No.4 seed Amanda Anisimova won her match on Saturday in straight sets – 6-3, 6-2 - against countrywoman Peyton Stearns.

In the men’s draw, Learner Tien and Tommy Paul are already through to the round of 16. No.8 seed Ben Shelton also progressed on Saturday, defeating Monaco’s Valentin Vacherot 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).

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