Madison Keys captured her ninth Hologic WTA Tour title by defeating top seed Jessica Pegula 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 in the final of the Adelaide International on Saturday. The World No.20 overcame an upper leg injury in the second set to overpower No.7 Pegula to notch her 30th Top 10 win. 

Adelaide: Scores | Schedule | Draws

En route to the final, Keys notched dominant wins over Beatriz Haddad Maia, Jelena Ostapenko, Daria Kasatkina and Liudmila Samsonova, who was forced to retire with injury in the third set. 

"I haven't been back since 2022," Keys told the crowd on court, "and I was lucky enough to lift the trophy then and now I'm back and I'm holding it once again, so I'm thinking I should just keep coming back to Adelaide. I clearly do well here." 

"Jessie, amazing playing. Way to come out of the gates first week of the year and make the finals. We can discuss the match later when we're flying together, if you want."

Must See

Playing in her first hard-court final since winning Adelaide when it was a WTA 250 in 2022, Keys played a blistering 30-minute opening set to lead 6-4. After Pegula won the first three games of the second set, Keys took an off-court medical timeout and returned with tape around her upper left leg.

Pegula took the second set but Keys opened the final frame with more confidence in her serve and baseline gameplan. Stepping in to play more disciplined first-strike tennis, Keys rolled through her service games and earned the only break she needed with steady, percussive hitting that left Pegula frozen on the baseline. With a flurry of return winners, Keys earned an insurance break to lead 5-1 and closed out the win after 1 hour and 43 minutes. 

Keys finished the match with 10 aces and 26 winners, while holding Pegula to just six winners.

"You hit the ball harder than anybody," Pegula told Keys during the trophy ceremony. "I think I maybe hit three winners, I don't know, but it was tough. You've been playing amazing all week."

Keys and Pegula will now make the quick flight to Melbourne, where the Australian Open begins on Sunday. Pegula is set to face Australian wild card Maya Joint in the first round on Monday. Keys will face another American, Ann Li, in her opener on Tuesday.

More to follow...