Madison Keys has exposed a big flaw in the WTA Finals that should be changed for future years.
Keys won the Australian Open earlier this year, which helped her qualify for her first WTA Finals since 2016.
However, things did not play out as she would have hoped, with Keys losing to Iga Swiatek and Amanda Anisimova to seal her exit from the tournament.
The American was clearly not feeling her best throughout her first two matches, and Keys has now withdrawn and been replaced with one match to go, which is not a great look for the tournament.
The WTA Finals should remove round-robin for next year’s tournament
Keys has been replaced by second alternate Ekaterina Alexandrova, who has enjoyed a breakout season of her own in 2025.
While this may be a big opportunity for Alexandrova, there is very little riding on her match against Elena Rybakina, who has already qualified for the WTA Finals semifinals.
This exposes a very big flaw in the WTA Finals, which is billed to be the biggest tournament for women’s tennis outside of the four Grand Slams.
If the tournament is as big as it claims to be, then there should be no matches that have no real meaning to them.
The reason why this is currently happening is due to the round-robin format, which has been in place since 2003, and creates situations like the one that has happened with Keys, Alexandrova and Rybakina.
To prevent this from happening in future, the WTA Finals should return to the previous knockout format where every match actually means something, even if that means increasing the lineup to 16 players.
This also goes for the ATP Finals, which is also likely to face a similar issue next week regardless of whether a player withdraws.
Has an alternate ever won the WTA Finals before?
The WTA Finals has had a round-robin format since 2003, and there have been 10 alternates before Alexandrova this year.
In 2009, there was even a situation where an alternate replaced an alternate after Vera Zvonareva suffered an ankle injury.
There has been a familiar feeling with all of these alternates, as all 10 of them have failed to advance past the round-robin stage.
This is unsurprising, as alternates are usually replacing an injured player and have a lot of the time they will only have one match, which is not enough for them to turn things around.
| Year | Alternate | Matches played | Result |
| 2007 | Marion Bartoli (Replaced Serena Williams) | 2 (1-1) | Knocked out at the round-robin stage |
| 2008 | Agnieszka Radwanska (Replaced Ana Ivanovic) | 1 (1-0) | Knocked out at the round-robin stage |
| 2008 | Nadia Petrova (Replaced Serena Williams) | 1 (0-1) | Knocked out at the round-robin stage |
| 2009 | Vera Zvonareva (Replaced Dinara Safina) | 1 (0-1) | Knocked out at the round-robin stage – withdrew due to ankle injury |
| 2009 | Agnieszka Radwanska (Replaced Vera Zvonareva) | 1 (1-0) | Knocked out at the round-robin stage |
| 2011 | Marion Bartoli (Replaced Maria Sharapova) | 1 (1-0) | Knocked out at the round-robin stage |
| 2012 | Sam Stosur (Replaced Petra Kvitova) | 2 (0-2) | Knocked out at the round-robin stage |
| 2019 | Kiki Bertens (Replaced Naomi Osaka) | 2 (1-1) | Knocked out at the round-robin stage |
| 2019 | Sofia Kenin (Replaced Bianca Andreescu) | 1 (0-1) | Knocked out at the round-robin stage |
| 2024 | Daria Kasatkina (Replaced Jessica Pegula) | 1 (0-1) | Knocked out at the round-robin stage |
Alexandrova will join this list of alternates who have been unable to advance from the round-robin, even if she beats Rybakina 6-0 6-0.
Hopefully the WTA Finals can realise this issue and make a change that is long overdue for next year’s event.
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