Venus Williams: Not playing at Indian Wells despite wild card

Field Level Media|published: Sun 23rd February, 20:17 2025

Venus Williams prepares a serve against Nao Hibino during round one of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., Thursday, March 7, 2024.

Venus Williams said Sunday that she is not playing in the upcoming BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, Calif., despite event organizers announcing she would be playing in the event.

The 44-year-old Williams heard about the tournament's Wednesday announcement and said during an event in Denmark on Sunday that it "wasn't true."

"No, I'm not playing," Williams said. "Actually, I found the announcement super amusing because, I don't know, people seem to be happy, so I was like, 'Maybe I'll just go with it, I don't know.' I'm actually not going. I'm going to be overseas. I'm not going to be (there) ... I just had a player text me today too, like, 'Can you play doubles?' [But] I'm not playing.

"I found out about the wild card when you guys did. Just saying. And I love Indian Wells, I would love to be there and if I could have accepted it, I would have been like, 'Yes.' But I already made commitments."

As of Sunday night, Williams was still listed on the tournament's player list as a wild card participant.

Williams has played sparingly in recent years and has a 7-30 singles record since the start of 2020.

She received a wild card for Indian Wells last year and lost to Japan's Nao Hibino in the first round.

Williams is a three-time semifinalist (1998, 2001, 2018) in nine appearances at Indian Wells.

--Field Level Media

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