Venus Williams Says She Is Not Playing Indian Wells Despite Being Listed As Wildcard Player

In the curious case of Venus Williams and Indian Wells, it has been an interesting week.

The BNP Paribas Open says that Williams, 44, is one of its wildcard players. The tournament website has a picture of Williams along with its list of wildcards.  Williams did appear in last year’s tournament as a wildcard.

Venus Williams played two professional matches last year, one at Indian Wells and one at the Miami Open. For this reason, people were surprised that she accepted a wildcard after a long period of inactivity.

Someone asked Venus about her pending wildcard, and her answer added more confusion to the situation.

What Venus Williams Said

Williams says she is not playing.  She went on to say: “I found out about the wild card when you guys did. Just saying, I love Indian Wells, I would love to be there and if I could have accepted it, I would have.”

Venus says other commitments prevent her from playing.

The Williams Sisters Have A Complicated History With Indian Wells

Amazingly, Venus said that she loves Indian Wells because her family was not treated well there in 2001, met with heinous heckles and boos from the American crowd.  This racist treatment prompted Venus and Serena Willams to skip the event for over a decade.

It’s the 20th anniversary of the very racist events that took place at the 2001 Indian Wells Women’s Tennis Tournament, which led to Serena and Venus Williams boycotting the event for a decade.@NegroDelight recaps pic.twitter.com/q0AV1b2VET

— MEANS TV (@means_tv) March 19, 2021

This misunderstanding between Venus Williams and Indian Wells 24 years later just adds to the strange relationship between the Williams family and this tournament.

It will be interesting to see how the tournament officials respond to Venus’s comments and decision, and who could take the wildcard designated for Venus.