Questions over Madison Keys’ health and next WTA Finals match after no handshake

Shahida Jacobs
Pictured: Madison Keys with inset of Amanda Anisimova
Madison Keys with Amanda Anisimova inset

Madison Keys has one match remaining at the WTA Finals following her back-to-back defeats in the group phase, but there are doubts if she will play against Elena Rybakina.

The reigning Australian Open champion lost her opening match against Iga Swiatek in Group Serena Williams 1-6, 2-6 and then went down 6-4, 3–6, 2–6 against Amanda Anisimova in her second round-robin clash.

With those losses, Keys has no chance of qualifying for the semi-final as Rybakina has already booked her spot in the last four with two wins from two matches while Swiatek and Anisimova are battling for the final spot.

The Keys-Rybakina match will thus be a deadrubber, but there are question marks over whether or not the American will play as she was struggling physically during the latter stages of her match against Anisimova.

And at the end of the match, there was no traditional handshake at the net between the two, although there was no animosity, as Keys indicated to her chest to suggest she had some sort of health problem and did not want to infect her compatriot.

The pair, though, did exchange a couple of words with Anisimova nodding to accept the decision.

“I feel like every time I come out here, my opponent’s playing some crazy tennis,” Anisimova said during her on-court interview.

“It’s been a difficult few matches and today Maddie was playing so well, and it was quite a battle out there. I’m really happy with how I was able to turn it around in the second set, and kind of turn that frown upside down!”

Keys also didn’t shake hands with the chair umpire and quickly made her way off the court and didn’t offer an explanation about her condition after the match.

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It does raise questions about her last round-robin encounter against Rybakina and, although she has already been knocked out, points and prize money are still on offer.

Players are awarded 200 points for a victory during the group phase and $355,000 per win on top of the $340,000 particpation fee they receive.

Should Keys be unable to compete, then world No 9 Mirra Andreeva – who is the first alternate with Ekaterina Alexandrova – will step in and take on Rybakina and play for points and prize money.

The 30-year-old has played very little tennis during the second half of the 2025 WTA Tour season as she didn’t compete during the recent Asia swing with her last tournament being the US Open where she was stunned in the first round by Renata Zarazua.

Keys, who also won the Adelaide International at the start of the year, reached a career-high No 5 in the WTA Rankings earlier this year, but is currently at No 7 although she could still be overtaken by Jasmine Paolini or Andreeva.

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