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 dead rubber, 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.
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.
