This is due to a WTA Tour ruling which states only one top 10 player can feature in tournaments worth 250 rankings points.

World number six Jessica Pegula had already committed to the event and therefore Keys will miss out on the chance to play in front of her home fans, which Stubbs and Stosur are not happy about.

Renane Stubbs and Sam Stosur slam ‘ridiculous’ tennis rule

Sam Stosur appeared as a guest on the Rennae Stubbs podcast in which they discussed the controversial WTA ruling.

The ATX Open fans have been robbed of the chance to see Keys play, and this would have been her first tournament as a Grand Slam champion.

But the 29-year-old will have to watch from the sidelines and see if her compatriot Pegula can take home the title.

Stosur expressed her frustrations with the ruling, and mentioned a loophole that needs to be addressed. “The rules about top 10 not being able to play 250’s,” she said.

“There are lots of ins and outs that I don’t understand and I think it’s a real shame for some of those tournaments that they don’t get a player.

“I didn’t also love when you could have one top 10 player at those events and it was when the first player who entered got in and that was it.

“And last year in Hong Kong, when Emma Navarro lost early in Beijing and could take a wildcard into a 250, so you are not really allowed to play but can take a wild card into one. I think that’s ridiculous so I think there are tweaks to those rules that need to be adjusted.”

Stubbs added: “I agree. Also you have four Americans inside the top 10 right now. That is incredible. You have Emma Navarro, Jessica Pegula, Coco and Madison.

“Why not keep promoting the sport in America? That is where a lot of the dollars are. You could grow that tournament from a 250 to a 500 and go into Indian Wells there could be a place to move.

“To me it’s shooting yourself in the foot. If someone enters a tournament and wants to play there and wins the Australian Open and happens to get inside the top 10, well lucky them!”

Andy Roddick also disagreed with the WTA 250 tournament rule

The WTA 250 rule that only allows one top 10 player to compete also drew ire from Andy Roddick.

The former World number one took to his ‘Served’ podcast and said this model is not sustainable for the smaller tournaments on the tennis circuit.

“Until you make an independent deal with a tournament and then you fly under our rules,” he said. “It’s so two handed and I am sure there is a technical piece where they are going to be fine.

“How is he ever again going to do a deal with someone who is top 30 in the world? Just to get screwed over if it doesn’t work.

“You are literally weakening the toughest professional tournament business even more, you are diluting it. How are we going to support the smaller markets?

“It is an act of idiocy that we are having this conversation and that a tournament that is four weeks from now, now what do you do? Tennis is going to tennis. It’s so dumb and short-sighted. Always.”

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