Madison Keys Withdraws From 2025 Dubai Championships With Injury
News
2025 Australian Open champion Madison Keys' first match since her incredible run in Melbourne has been delayed again after she pulled out of the 2025 Dubai Championships with an injury.
Keys won her maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open almost two weeks ago. That memorable moment was sealed after a 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 victory in the final against the two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka.
Needing a break after her outstanding efforts at the season's opening Grand Slam is entirely natural. However, Keys has now withdrawn from three tournaments in February for two different reasons.
The American was forced to remove herself from the entry list for the ATX Open in Texas, starting February 24th, because WTA rules state that 250-level tournaments cannot have more than one Top 10 player in the draw.
Keys was not in the Top 10 when she committed to the event last year, but she jumped to No. 7, equaling her career high, after winning the 2025 Adelaide International and Australian Open titles, which ruled her out of the ATX Open.
Next week's Qatar Open is the opening WTA 1000 event of 2025. Keys withdrew from that event due to a leg injury, and it was unclear at that stage how severe the physical issue was.
Although Keys has still not officially announced her injury, the withdrawal from the Dubai Championships shows that her leg issue is at least somewhat severe and needs additional recovery time.
Keys' superb level at the Australian Open meant it did not seem like she was carrying an injury throughout her time in Melbourne, but the eventual champion may have been covering up some pain after how hard she worked to win the title.
The 2017 US Open runner-up played four consecutive matches that went to a deciding set to make her dream of winning a Grand Slam a reality. She overcame Elena Rybakina in the fourth round before recovering from losing the first set to defeat Elina Svitolina.
Keys' semifinal victory against Iga Swiatek was the lengthiest and most brutal battle of her run. The four-time Grand Slam champion held a match point at 6-5, 40-30 up in the deciding set. Remarkably, the American came back to triumph from that position.
Although winning four three-set battles in succession was a ringing endorsement of Keys' fitness, some physical issues after achieving that are common and might have been what caused the leg injury.
However, at this stage, it is impossible to know for sure. It may also have been an injury she picked up after the Australian Open or an issue that had been managed since before the event started.
Being absent from the Middle East swing is not new for Keys. She has only played once at the Qatar Open and twice at the Dubai Championships. Her best performance in the region was a quarterfinal run in Dubai in 2023.
This does not indicate that Keys' injury is not genuine. However, it may indicate that the Middle East swing is not her favorite time of the year, and she would not have minded some additional time off anyway.
