Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys deliver their honest thoughts on the crowd during the WTA Finals

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The WTA Finals have drawn to a close with contrasting campaigns for Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys.

Keys pulled out of the tournament with illness after losing her first two matches to Iga Swiatek and Amanda Anisimova.

Pegula dropped a place to number six in the WTA rankings after losing in the semifinals, and it proved a missed opportunity for her.

New rivalries were forged at the WTA Finals, and it proved to be a successful tournament for Elena Rybakina, who won.

There were a lot of positives to emerge from the tournament, and now, Pegula and Keys have been discussing one really positive aspect of the Riyadh event.

• READ MORE: Coco Gauff posts social media message after being knocked out of the WTA Finals

Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys hail fans at the WTA Finals

Whenever an event takes place in Saudi Arabia there always seems to be some degree of controversy in terms of the number of fans watching the matches.

Saudi Arabia is getting a Masters 1000 event in 2028 on the ATP Tour, and as a result, all eyes were on the WTA as they took to Saudi Arabia to play their final tournament of the year.

Pegula and Keys have been chatting on The Player’s Box Podcast, with the pair raving about the fans over in Riyadh this year and the conversation going as follows:

Pegula: “There were a lot more fans this year.”

Keys: “The fans I thought were great.”

Pegula: “They were really good. I got a lot of questions about that in the press. I was like, ‘Oh, it’s so much different than last year’, because last year, it felt like they didn’t know how to cheer, because they don’t really have tennis here.

“This year, it felt like there were way more chants, yelling people’s names, and cheering. Sections of different types of fans… It was cool to see that change from last year. Hopefully, it’s kind of growing in this region of the world.”

Fan improvement in Saudi Arabia can only help tennis

Ultimately, it’s a positive thing that the wealth of Saudi Arabia is now being lavished on tennis, and this year it’s been great to see the fans come out and cheer the players on.

Nobody wants to play in front of next to nobody and especially at an event that is so prestigious such as the WTA Finals, which brings the curtain down on the year.

Pegula and Keys can both look back on solid years. Keys won her maiden Grand Slam title in Australia, whilst Pegula made another semifinal at the US Open.

Both players will be back next year and as top 10 players, the pair will be looking to make an impact and ultimately qualify for the WTA Finals all over again.

Riyadh looks to be here to stay when it comes to the WTA Finals and given that the players are starting to notice more fans at the venue that can only bode well.