Why Madison Keys’ Australian Open win stops her playing in Austin WTA tournament

Australian Open champion Madison Keys is no longer able to play at a WTA tournament in the U.S. in February, after her success in Melbourne made her too highly ranked to enter.

Keys, who rose to world No. 7 after winning her first Grand Slam title, had entered the WTA 250-level ATX Open in Austin, Tex., which begins February 24. The American entered the tournament as world No. 21, with fellow American Jessica Pegula entering as world No. 6.

But under WTA rules, 250-level tournaments (the lowest level on the main tour) are only permitted to feature one top-10 player in the WTA rankings, unless the defending champion returns with a top-10 ranking. Keys’ run at the Australian Open, in which she beat world No. 2 Iga Swiatek and world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in consecutive matches, therefore makes her ineligible to enter the tournament.

ATX Open tournament director Christo Van Rensburg confirmed Keys’ enforced withdrawal in a statement: “We love Madison and have been anticipating for months the excitement of her playing here in Austin for the first time.

“While we wish the Top 10 rule didn’t apply to our tournament, we respect the rules of the WTA.”

The ATX Open is in the same week as the Merida Open in Mexico, which is a WTA 500 event. According to the 2025 WTA Rulebook:

“A WTA 250 Tournament in the same week as a WTA 500 Tournament may accept only one (1) player whose WTA Singles Ranking is 1-10 at the Tournament’s Main Draw entry deadline.”

Players ranked below Keys will not be able to win enough points before the start of the tournament to overtake her, and she cannot lose enough ranking points to fall outside the top 10.

Her rise up the rankings comes on the back of a 12-match win streak, with the American winning the WTA 500 in Adelaide ahead of the Australian Open, beating Pegula in the final. The rule will deprive fans in Austin of seeing America’s most recent Grand Slam winner.

The end of the Australian Open has also brought a slew of ATP withdrawals unrelated to rankings rules. Men’s singles champion Jannik Sinner has withdrawn from the ATP 500 event in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, citing the need to rest after his win over Alexander Zverev. World No. 11 Grigor Dimitrov and world No. 16 Jack Draper have also withdrawn from the event, which begins February 3, while Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from Serbia’s Davis Cup qualifier against Denmark after tearing his hamstring against Carlos Alcaraz.

Djokovic defeated Alcaraz, before retiring from his semifinal against Zverev after losing the first set.

 (Photo: William West / AFP via Getty Images)