Top-Ranked Americans Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff, Madison Keys Poised For Deep Runs At Australian Open

An American woman has reached the finals of the Australian Open in each of the last three years.

Sofia Kenin won the title in 2020 and Jennifer Brady and Danielle Collins made the final in 2021 and ‘22, respectively.

With the 2023 tournament set to begin on Monday, world No. 3 Jessica Pegula, 28, No. 7 Coco Gauff, 18, and No. 10 Madison Keys, 27, appear poised to make deep runs Down Under. Collins, another big hitter, is ranked No. 14.

Defending champion Ash Barty shocked the tennis world by retiring in March, meaning there will be a new champion in 2023.

“I think the American women have been playing really well as of late, primarily Jessica Pegula,” ESPN analyst Mary Joe Fernandez said Wednesday on a conference call with reporters.

“I’m really impressed with her improvement, her determination,” Fernandez added. “She’s definitely one to look out for at the Australian Open.”

Pegula, who led the U.S. team that claimed the mixed teams United Cup in Sydney last week, faces Jaqueline Cristian from Romania in the first round.

The daughter of Buffalo Bills owners Terry and Kim Pegula, Pegula reached the quarterfinals of three majors in 2022 — the Australian Open, French Open and U.S. Open — losing to the eventual champion each time. She is coming off winning the WTA 500 United Cup in Australia where she beat world No. 1 Iga Świątek, 6-2, 6-2, in the semifinals.

“I think the quickness of the court that she played Iga Świątek on was a big factor,” ESPN’s Patrick McEnroe said on the call. “I think the Australian Open will be pretty quick, but it’s usually not that quick, so that to me is sort of the X factor for her because I think if the court is a little bit slower, that makes it a little bit harder for her to play that type of penetrating game that she can play so well.”

Gauff, who won a tournament in Auckland last week, faces a tough first-round test against Katerina Siniakova, who defeated her in the Billie Jean King Cup finals in November. She has never been past the fourth round in Melbourne.

“She’s still only a teenager and she keeps improving and working on her game,” Fernandez said of Gauff. “I think it’s a matter of time before she breaks through at a major. She’s been to the final already at the French Open, so that’s good.”

Added McEnroe: “I think for Coco this year, it’s about managing her schedule better, peaking for the biggest tournaments, because there’s no doubt that she’s knocking on the door.”

Keys, who lost to Barty in the semifinals last year, faces Russian Anna Blinkova in the first round, while Collins meets Russian Anna Kalinskaya. Another American, Amanda Anisimova, ranked 29th in the world, meets Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in the first round.

“I was really happy to see how well Madison Keys was playing at the United Cup,” Fernandez said. “She won five matches, and she always has good memories in Australia, always seems to play well down there. So she’s a potential.

“Then we’ll see about Danielle Collins, last year’s finalist. She’s going strong this week in the warm-up tournament. If she’s hot, look out; one of the best backhands in the game. She can definitely do some damage out there.”

The potential women’s quarterfinals are: Swiatek vs. Gauff in what would be a rematch of last year’s French Open final, won by Swiatek, and Pegula vs. No. 6 Maria Sakkari in the top half of the bracket; and Jabeur vs. No. 5 Aryna Sabalenka, and No. 4 Caroline Garcia vs. No. 8 Daria Kasatkina in the bottom half.

Another big first-round match is two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka against Kenin, who won the title at Melbourne Park in 2020.

“For both the [American] men and women, it’s been really exciting to watch them improve, get into the top 10, and now really feel like they really go into these Grand Slams with a shot,” Fernandez said.

(The AP contributed reporting)