Venus Williams was on the list when the BNP Paribas Open announced its initial wild-card recipients last week. However, it has since been confirmed that the 44-year-old American will not be playing at the upcoming 1000-point tournament in Indian Wells.
“No, I’m not playing,” Williams said while attending a recent event in Denmark. “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.”
Tournament director Tommy Haas confirmed the news via social media.
“Our team has been informed that Venus is not accepting the wild card this year,” Haas posted on the Indian Wells Twitter feed. “We wish Venus all the best and hope to see her back in Indian Wells in the future.”
Other wild cards have been awarded to Petra Kvitova, Joao Fonseca, and Learner Tien. Fonseca beat Andrey Rublev at the Australian Open and won the Buenos Aires title earlier this month. Tien reached the fourth round of the Aussie Open–a run that included an upset of Daniil Medvedev.
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