MADISON KEYS had to eat humble pie as pal Jessica Pegula won their Australian Open clash to dodge a forfeit.
Pegula, whose billionaire parents own the Buffalo Bills, agreed to wear a Travis Kelce/Taylor Swift Kansas City Chiefs jersey if defending champ Keys beat her in their fourth-round match on Monday.
But No 6 seed Pegula won 6-3 6-4, so Keys had to honour their bet and eat a strange Thanksgiving tradition of apple pie with melted cheese on top.
The Bills — who lost in the NFL playoffs — have a long rivalry with the Chiefs.
Pegula, who faces fellow American Amanda Anisimova in the last eight on Wednesday, joked: “That was bad. She was like, ‘Mine’s worse’.
“I was like, ‘What are you talking about? My family owns the Bills. This team has owned us in the post-season’.
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“All she has to do is eat a piece of pie. What is the big deal? That was some extra motivation because it would have been a tough moment for me.”
Pegula, yet to drop a set, added: “I have always been the type of player where I get frustrated when I feel like I’m not getting better.
“I’ve already had a lot of great results. Being 31, I still feel like I’m improving. So that is what gets me the most excited.”
On the pie-eating bet, Keys, 30, said: “A bet is a bet, so I’ll do it. I hope it’s less gross than I think it’s going to be but we will find out. It’s obviously not the way I wanted things to end here but I’m still really proud of myself.
“Coming back as defending champion, dealing with all the extra pressure, I’m really proud of how I handled it.
“It’s just one of those days where I feel like Jess beat me — and I can walk away with my head held high.
“I’m not going to say anything as the last time we told Jess she was going to do well… she didn’t do well.”
Fifth seed Elena Rybakina reached a first Grand Slam quarter-final since Wimbledon 2024 by thumping Belgian Elise Mertens 6-1 6-3.
On Wednesday she faces reigning SW19 champ Iga Swiatek, who ended Aussie hopes in the women’s singles with a 6-0 6-3 victory over Maddison Inglis.
Jannik Sinner escaped the searing Aussie sun as he kept his title defence alive.
The Italian cramped badly in 40C heat on Saturday before battling past American Eliot Spizzirri in four sets — with organisers forced to close the roof.
On Monday he enjoyed the cooler evening start time in a 6-1 6-3 7-6 win over Luciano Darderi and faces US star Ben Shelton in the quarter-finals.
Lorenzo Musetti made it two Italians into the last eight with a 6-2 7-5 6-4 victory over American Taylor Fritz.
The No 5 seed faces Novak Djokovic, who had the day off after scheduled opponent Jakub Mensik withdrew on Sunday citing an abdominal problem.
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