NEW YORK (Reuters) – Former world number one Venus Williams will not compete at next month’s Indian Wells tournament despite the WTA 1000 event giving the 44-year-old American a wildcard, ESPN reported on Sunday.
Williams, who played only two tournaments last season, said at a speaking event in Denmark that she had not been told of the wildcard before the tournament announced it on Wednesday and added that she was unable to compete due to prior commitments.
The seven-times Grand Slam champion played at Indian Wells as a wildcard last year.
“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,'” the report quoted Williams as saying.
“I’m actually not going. I’m going to be overseas.”
Reuters has reached out to Indian Wells for comment. The main draw runs from March 5.
“I love Indian Wells, I would love to be there and if I could have accepted it, I would have been like, ‘Yes,'” she said.
Williams boycotted the event for 15 years after fans booed and heckled her younger sister Serena during her 2001 final victory over Kim Clijsters, apparently in response to Venus withdrawing injured from their semi-final.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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