Madison Keys has revealed that dress restrictions were the reason behind officials’ decision to hold the WTA 2025 Finals photoshoot at a closed location in Saudi Arabia. The American tennis player, who lost her opening two matches before withdrawing due to illness, competed in the season-ending WTA event held in Riyadh last week.
The traditional pre-tournament photoshoot took place at the Bab AlSaad Resort in Diriyah on October 31. However, fans were furious with WTA officials over the choice of dresses and also claimed the players appeared “sad” during the photoshoot.
Speaking on the Player’s Box Podcast on November 11 alongside Desirae Krawczyk, Jessica Pegula, and Jennifer Brady, Madison Keys addressed fans’ reactions after seeing comments online. She clarified why the players did not pose with smiles during the photoshoot.
The World No. 7 explained that the organizers had to select a closed location to respect the local culture and dress code regarding women’s attire in public places.
“We didn’t do a smile picture,” Keys said. “I heard that they were trying to find a closed location obviously because some of the dresses had shoulders showing or there was a cutout or something.
“I heard that they were kind of running into an issue last year where if shoulders were out or there was a cutout and you guys took your pictures in a more public place, it was like you kind of had to be shielded away a little bit.” (9:00 onwards)
Keys added that she understood the WTA’s decision to consider local customs when choosing the photoshoot location.
“I think that was kind of—I think that is a tough thing to balance, where it’s like I don’t know if they could have found that many dresses that were culturally dress code approved to be taken in cultural locations. So, I will say I understand it on that, and I did see a lot of those comments. So, I understand that part,” she said. (10:07 onwards)
Meanwhile, sixth-seed Elena Rybakina clinched the WTA Finals 2025 title by defeating World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final on Saturday, November 8.
With two defeats in the group stages in Riyadh, Madison Keys finished the 2025 season ranked World No. 7 in the WTA year-end singles rankings.
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### Madison Keys and Jessica Pegula React to Elena Rybakina’s WTA Finals 2025 Triumph
In the same Player’s Box Podcast episode, Madison Keys and Jessica Pegula shared their thoughts on Elena Rybakina’s impressive title win.
The Russian-born Kazakhstani player had a brilliant end to the season, winning the Ningbo Open just weeks before her heroics at the season-ending event. After defeating Keys’ alternate, Ekaterina Alexandrova, in the final group stage match, Rybakina went on to beat Pegula in the semifinals and stunned Sabalenka in straight sets in the final.
Pegula highlighted Rybakina’s exceptional serving in the final against Sabalenka, while Keys emphasized the former World No. 3’s outstanding form.
“Someone ended their year very well. Rybakina won. She beat Aryna 6-3, 7-6 (0) in the Finals,” Pegula said. “She hit 13 aces and won 67 percent of her first serves. She was serving like a joke.” (16:00)
“She had an insane couple of weeks,” Keys added. “She won Ningbo, she semied Tokyo, and then just won the year-end.”
Elena Rybakina earned a winner’s prize money of $5.2 million, while Madison Keys received $340,000 as a participation fee at the WTA Finals 2025.
https://www.sportskeeda.com/tennis/news-some-dresses-shoulders-showing-madison-keys-reveals-real-reason-behind-saudi-arabia-pushing-wta-finals-photoshoot-closed-locations
