Former world number one Venus Williams will forgo participating in the upcoming Indian Wells tournament, even though the WTA 1000 event extended a wild card invitation to the 44-year-old American. Williams, who only took part in two tournaments last year, mentioned at an event in Denmark that she was unaware of the wild card offer until it was publicly announced on Wednesday, and she is unable to participate due to prior engagements.
“I found the announcement quite amusing because everyone seemed pleased, so I thought, ‘Perhaps I’ll just play along with it, who knows’,” Williams remarked at the gathering in Naestved. “However, I’m not attending. I’ll be abroad.”
Tournament director Tommy Haas later issued a statement confirming Williams’ absence from the March 2-16 event in Southern California. “Our team has been notified that Venus won’t be taking up the wild card this year,” it stated. “We wish Venus all the best and hope to see her return to Indian Wells in the future.”
For a span of 15 years, Williams chose not to attend the event after spectators jeered and taunted her younger sister Serena during her triumphant 2001 final against Kim Clijsters, seemingly due to Venus’s injury-related withdrawal from their semi-final match. Williams expressed, “I adore Indian Wells and would love to attend. Had I been able to accept, I would have eagerly said, ‘Yes’, but I had already made other commitments.”
