On February 20, news broke that Venus Williams had been awarded wildcard entries in the singles as well as the doubles categories at the BNP Paribas Open. However, the tennis icon and her doubles partner, Leylah Fernandez, were barred from competing due to an administrative error.
According to the Canadian website Open Court, a tournament spokesperson admitted to the organizers’ mistake while revealing that they apologized to both players, who had reached the 2025 US Open quarterfinals. The statement read:
“The tournament made an error and failed to certify the doubles wild card entry of Venus Williams and Leylah Fernandez before the women’s doubles draw was made. We worked with the WTA supervisor to review all available options, but because the draw had already been made, the mistake could not be corrected. We have apologized to Venus, Leylah, and their teams about the matter, and regret that our fans were not able to see this duo compete in Indian Wells this year.”
Three doubles teams received wildcards for the ongoing WTA 1000 tournament — Emma Raducani/Elena-Gabriela Ruse, Sloane Stephens/Donna Vekić, and Jelena Ostapenko/Hailey Baptiste.
Both Venus Williams and Leylah Fernandez lost their opening matches in the singles category at Indian Wells. Williams lost to Diane Parry in the round of 128 in three sets, going 0-5 this season. On the other hand, 27th-seeded Fernandez lost to Kateřina Siniaková in the round of 64.
“Wouldn’t That Be Cool?” – Venus Williams on Whether She Will Team Up With Serena Williams in the Future
Serena Williams is officially not a retired player anymore. Last August, her name appeared in the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s International Registered Testing Pool (IRTP). According to the ITIA rules, a player must undergo six months of testing before they can return to tour. Serena’s six-month period ended on February 22, and fans are waiting with bated breath to see when she plays again.
Many believe the 23-time Grand Slam winner will team up with her sister Venus in the doubles category at some point. Venus was asked to comment on this at the recent ATX Open. She said:
“Oh man, wouldn’t that be cool? I never see her practicing, though. I don’t know where she’s doing it. I think to come back, you have to get out there. So, we’ll see if she can put some work in. I mean, of course, playing for exercise is nice. There’s a lot of hours that goes into it, so we’ll see what happens.”
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