Jessica Pegula was driven by extra motivation in her fourth-round win over defending Australian Open champion Madison Keys – avoiding wearing a Kansas City Chiefs jersey.
Pegula and Keys are close friends away from the court and present The Player's Box podcast together along with fellow American players Jennifer Brady and Desirae Krawczyk.
The pair agreed that the winner of the clash would get to choose a forfeit for the loser and, had Keys won, Pegula, whose parents own the Buffalo Bills, would have had to don a Travis Kelce/Taylor Swift Chiefs jersey.
"That was bad," said Pegula. "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’.
"All she has to do is eat a piece of pie. What is the big deal? I think that was really some extra motivation, because that would have been a tough moment for me."
The pie in question is the Pegula family’s Thanksgiving tradition of apple pie with melted cheddar cheese on top.
Keys had won their only previous grand slam meeting comfortably but the 30-year-old has been searching for her best form since winning her maiden grand slam title here 12 months ago and was outplayed by Pegula.
The sixth seed got off to strong starts in both sets and Keys was not able to get back on terms.
Keys and her podcast crew will now be supporting Pegula, with the 31-year-old through to a fourth quarter-final in Melbourne and looking to go further for the first time.
Pegula is yet to drop a set and could not be happier with her form, saying: "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 really great results. Being 31, I still feel like I’m improving as a player. So that is what gets me the most excited."
Fourth seed Amanda Anisimova maintained her momentum by beating China's Wang Xinyu 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 to reach her first Australian Open quarter-final.
The hard-hitting 24-year-old has been in imperious form at Melbourne Park this year and has not dropped a set as she bids for a first major title after runner-up finishes at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2025.
Anisimova struggled to find her range in a tight first set, however, as Wang, spurred on by a vocal contingent of Chinese fans, held her own in the early exchanges and saved a set point before her American opponent won the tie-break.
The traditional rallying cry of "Jia You" - literally "add oil" - continued as fans got behind the unseeded Wang when she broke back in the second game of the second set, but they went silent briefly when she surrendered her serve again.
"There were a lot of fans from China today," Anisimova said.
"Honestly, it made the atmosphere so great. I don't find it disrespectful at all. They were just really loud, so it made the energy really fun. It wasn't for me but I was just pretending like it was getting rowdy out there.
"It was great. I really appreciate everyone sitting here through the heat."
Wang took an off-court medical timeout following that game and soldiered on with her right thigh strapped up, but could not stop Anisimova from consolidating her break and pulling away for another straightforward victory.
Anisimova delivered the knockout blow in the form of a huge ace, her seventh of the match, to make it an American quartet in the last eight.
Fifth seed Elena Rybakina is through to her first grand slam quarter-final since Wimbledon 2024 after thumping Elise Mertens 6-1 6-3.
