The WTA Tour has rapidly moved on from the Australian Open, with the Qatar Open now underway in Doha.
It represents the first WTA 1000 tournament of the 2026 season, and is immediately followed by the WTA 1000 Dubai.
The former was hit by many significant blows before getting started, with Madison Keys among the Qatar Open withdrawals.
She was joined by Aryna Sabalenka and Naomi Osaka, along with fellow Americans Jessica Pegula and Iva Jovic.
Keys had planned to play at the ATX Open in Austin shortly after, but she has now revealed that she has been unable to take part in the event for the second year running.
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Madison Keys ‘mad’ after WTA rankings rule means she can’t play in Austin
Keys discussed the situation on The Player’s Box podcast, with her co-host Pegula having played a central role in the WTA ruling.
“Last year I won the Australian Open on Saturday, which is not the sad part of the story!” explained Keys.
“Then the rankings for the Austin tournament updated and the deadline updated the same day. So I had already entered in Austin, had committed to it, had told the tournament that I was coming, we were going to do stuff and I’d talked to the tournament director.
“Then that Monday I moved into the top 10 and because Jessica is also playing in Austin she was two or three spots higher than me, so she got to stay in the tournament. Because it’s a 250 there is only one top 10 player allowed and I was removed after I had entered.
“When I entered I was 17 in the rankings but because I moved up I was removed because Jess was ranked higher than me, so she got to play.
“So this year comes around and I was like ‘Okay, I didn’t defend all my points from Australia, I will drop out of the top 10, so I can go and play Austin this year’.
“I was like maybe I can ask the tournament for a wildcard, I will see if he has any extras so I can finally go.
“And so this year I reached out to the tournament and asked if I could get a wildcard and the WTA told me that I could not take a wildcard because even though after the Australian Open I would drop out of the top 10, they said that I am not eligible for a wildcard because when the deadline closed it is during the Australian Open this year and I’m still top 10.
“I was like wait? What if I just take a wildcard on Tuesday after the rankings update and they said no, Jess is playing, only one top 10 player can play.
“I said I won’t be when the tournament starts, but they said you are top 10 and the entries have closed so you are currently top 10, so you can’t play.
“I was so mad! I was rage emailing and texting the WTA because I was like this does not make any sense.
“One year I get screwed because I did too well somewhere and the next year I am trying to go to a tournament again, and somehow I’m penalised for being too good but then literally five days later I am going to drop out of the top 10.
“That makes no sense to me. I will just have to talk to my council member and be like Jessica can you please fix these rules that make no sense!”
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Madison Keys plummets WTA rankings after Australian Open exit
It is a bizarre and unfortunate situation for Keys, who was in a fine position in the WTA rankings before her Australian Open disappointment.
The American emerged victorious at the hard-court Grand Slam in 2025, superbly defeating Sabalenka in the final.
But after losing in the fourth round this year, the defending champion fell six places in the rankings from ninth to 15th.
| Rank | Player |
| 1 | Aryna Sabalenka |
| 2 | Iga Swiatek |
| 3 | Elena Rybakina |
| 4 | Amanda Anisimova |
| 5 | Coco Gauff |
| 6 | Jessica Pegula |
| 7 | Mirra Andreeva |
| 8 | Jasmine Paolini |
| 9 | Elina Svitolina |
| 10 | Ekaterina Alexandrova |
| 11 | Belinda Bencic |
| 12 | Linda Noskova |
| 13 | Victoria Mboko |
| 14 | Clara Tauson |
| 15 | Naomi Osaka |
| 16 | Madison Keys |
| 17 | Liudmila Samsonova |
| 18 | Emma Navarro |
| 19 | Karolina Muchova |
| 20 | Iva Jovic |
The 30-year-old, who ironically lost to Pegula in Melbourne, has since fallen one further spot to 16th place.
Despite the drop, she won’t be making an appearance at the ATX Open in Austin, but world number six and defending champion Pegula will be.
Intriguingly, Venus Williams has received an ATX Open wildcard, and so has Jelena Ostapenko.
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