Former world No. 1 Venus Williams is not going to play within the upcoming BNP Paribas Open.
The event introduced in a information launch Wednesday that the 44-year-old Williams was given a wild card for entry and would play within the 1000-level occasion, which begins March 2 in Indian Wells, California. It was slated to be her first WTA event in practically a yr.
However Williams, throughout an occasion in Denmark, instructed the gang at Area Næstved for “An Night with Venus Williams” that it “wasn’t true” when requested about it Sunday.
“No, I am not enjoying,” Williams mentioned. “Really, I discovered the announcement tremendous amusing as a result of, I do not know, individuals appear to be comfortable, so I used to be like, ‘Perhaps I am going to simply go together with it, I do not know.’ I am really not going. I’ll be abroad. I am not going to be [there]. … I simply had a participant textual content me at present too, like, ‘Are you able to play doubles?’ [But] I am not enjoying.
“I came upon in regards to the wild card whenever you guys did. Simply saying. And I like Indian Wells, I might like to be there and if I might have accepted it, I might have been like, ‘Sure.’ However I already made commitments.”
On the event’s web site Sunday, Williams remained on the participant listing as a wild card. However later, on the occasion’s social media feed, a press release from event director Tommy Haas was posted, confirming that “our workforce has been knowledgeable that Venus shouldn’t be accepting the wild card this yr. We want Venus all one of the best and hope to see her again in Indian Wells sooner or later.”
Williams, a seven-time main singles champion and the winner of 49 WTA singles trophies, has not performed for the reason that Miami Open final March and has performed sparingly over the previous few seasons, sparking longtime hypothesis about her future within the sport and elevating questions on whether or not she had privately retired.
She competed in simply two occasions in 2024 — shedding within the first spherical at Indian Wells and Miami — and received three matches in seven tournaments in 2023. She is ranked No. 974 on the planet.