Exhibitions may sit on the fringes of the tennis calendar, but for players they often reveal far more than a routine week on tour. In a refreshingly frank episode of Players Box, Madison Keys, Jessica Pegula and Jennifer Brady peeled back the curtain on the off-season’s travelling roadshow — the invitations, the incentives, the unspoken rules and, of course, the looming Sabalenka–Kyrgios spectacle. What emerged was a portrait of three players who know exactly when to switch on, when to switch off and when the whole thing is best treated with a raised eyebrow.
Keys Keeps It Simple: “I’m a Bit of a Homebody”
Madison Keys admitted she is not on a grand exhibition circuit this year. Instead, she has committed to just one outing — an event in Charlotte where she’ll face Venus Williams before Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe close the evening.
“I’m really excited,” she said. “But this is my only exhibition of the off-season. I’m basically a homebody. I’ll train, keep things moving, and Jess can go play all the others. Honestly, she’s out there every day.”
Keys’ delivery made it clear she embraces the lighter schedule — and is quite happy to let others chase the miles.
Pegula Says Yes to Back-to-Back Exhibitions
Jessica Pegula had initially planned for a quieter December — until a vacancy opened. “Someone pulled out, so now I’m doing two back-to-back with Amanda Anisimova,” she explained. “We’re playing at the Prudential Center and then the next day at Marlins Park.”
Her reason for agreeing was delightfully unpretentious: “It’s in the actual baseball stadium. That alone made me think, yes, this actually sounds pretty cool.”
She joked that half her appearances are due to her partner’s golf ambitions: “I swear, I do these exhibitions so Taylor can play golf nearby. It’s like a Christmas present for him.”
Most of her events come through her agent, but the local ones are more casual. “I know the tennis directors. They just text — since I train at both Boca clubs.”
How Serious Are Exhibitions? “People Pay — They Want Real Tennis”
Exhibitions may not award points, but the trio agreed they still owe fans something resembling proper competition.
Jennifer Brady recalled facing Keys in an exhibition while she herself was on her fourth match of the day. “She was going full throttle. I had to remind her we’re not playing the US Open final.”
Brady freely admits she doesn’t do half-speed: “I’m all or nothing.”
Pegula, meanwhile, tries to strike a balance: “You have to trick yourself into making it look good. Give a few games a real push, keep it close. It’s not real, but it has to feel real.”
Keys summed it up crisply: “If I’m paying for an exhibition, I don’t want 80-kilometre serves. I want tennis. So I’m definitely giving effort.”
Brady also noted the value from a practical standpoint. “It’s a good opportunity to test things from training in a competitive setting.”
All three agreed the format is blissfully lighter than the tour: short trips, quick matches and a far lower emotional cost. “It’s fun,” Pegula said. “Not two weeks of daily stress.”
Sabalenka vs Kyrgios: The Exhibition Everyone Is Talking About
Conversation inevitably drifted to the upcoming Sabalenka–Kyrgios event — a deliberately engineered “Battle of the Sexes” with modified rules.
Keys broke down the quirks: “Sabalenka gets a larger court, Nick gets a smaller one. I think there’s only one serve.”
Brady confirmed the format: “One serve per player, best-of-three sets, ten-point tiebreak in the third.”
The group agreed the single-serve rule is the great equaliser, given Kyrgios’ serve is one of the most feared in tennis. Pegula put it plainly: “With two serves, the guys don’t get broken. With one, it’s a bit more balanced.”
But the wildcard remains Kyrgios’ form. “We have no idea where Nick is right now,” Keys admitted. “We haven’t seen him in a while. But he’s so talented that it’ll be fascinating regardless.”
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