Why serena wont play indian wells

This hurts the game of tennis more than the individual tournament. Q: You and Serena often don't play non-Slam tournaments together. Elena, yesterday, and a number of people before her, made the charge that your dad decides the matches. Some people putting these two things together are saying that this was something decided within your family. What would you say to people who would make that comment? Venus: No, it's not a true opinion at all.

Everyone makes their own comments. That's how rumors get started. I guess rumors are more exciting than the truth. Serena: We're competitors and we always go out to compete, and that's how it's always been. I think maybe if my dad would decide, then maybe Venus wouldn't be up , maybe it would be three-all by now. I don't know if race has anything to do with this particular situation.

But in general I think, yeah, there's still a little problem with racism in America. If these situations are truly just happenstance; if Venus' knee truly did get sore just in time for her match with Serena; if all this is just the product of a bunch of jealous competitors on the women's tour and a bunch of dopes with overactive curiosity glands, then why don't the Williamses set the record straight?

When they are asked about the rumor and innuendo that constantly swirl around them, they respond with smirks and half-hearted denials. They deny, but with less than the normal conviction, even anger, one would expect in the face of such serious issues.

How about pounding on the table and saying it ain't so? How about some tears, some anger? Instead, we get smirks and "I don't knows" and feeble, misguided attempts at humor. When Venus was asked about the line of people at the ticket windows, asking for their money back, she giggled and said, "I don't have any money to give them.

Since Venus is only 20 and Serena 19, it would seem appropriate for an adult to step up, especially one named Richard. But when he was reached by phone Thursday night and asked about Venus' injury, he answered, "I'm not God," and hung up. Instead, he issues a statement: "The tour is aware of the assertions being circulated regarding Venus and Serena Williams' head-to-head matches. We have seen no evidence to support those assertions, and both players have denied them.

As Venus and Richard take their seats during Serena's warm-up, the crowd of 15, boos loudly -- exceptionally loudly for a tennis tournament. The boos continue for much of the match. Serena: Race? I think, you know, black people have been out of slavery now for just over a hundred years, and people are still kind of struggling a little bit. It hasn't been that long. About five minutes before the match, a sun-kissed crowd known for its relaxed spirit spotted Richard and Venus Williams beginning a long walk down the 50 steps to their courtside perch.

Immediately, a crescendo of boos began ushering the father and daughter to their seats. Soon, the stadium was filled with the eerie howl found in haunted houses. Halfway to his destination, a defiant Richard Williams turned and shook his fist at his 15, critics.

All the while, revealing no sign of a limp, no wrap on her controversial right knee, Venus Williams kept her head down as she slipped into her row. Few wanted to forgive Venus Williams for pulling out of her semifinal against her sister four minutes before the match on Thursday night. Her penchant for vanishing from tournaments had ruined her credibility. Every double fault and unforced error was cheered loudly by the crowd.

Following a , , victory against Clijsters, Serena was booed after the match. In a piece in Time Magazine in , Serena discussed the racial undertones of the reaction from the Indian Wells crowd. This haunted me for a long time. Indeed, Richard claimed he was racially abused as he took his seat to watch his daughter play in the Indian Wells final.

Fourteen years after the Williams family decided to boycott Indian Wells, Serena decided to return to the tournament in California.

I play for the love of the game. This time, Serena received a very different reception as she stepped out at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. It remains unclear whether the fixing allegations made were true but the subsequent coverage, offhand accusations, and long-standing repercussions has made it a talking point in the Williams sisters story as well as the racism faced by players in US.

Back in , the tennis world was different. For many, the two with father and coach Richard were still outsiders. Perhaps the incident would have had a different reaction and relevance today given how we are seeing social consciousness take centrestage. But back then, it was relegated to an unsavoury instance to be brushed off. But the crowd behaviour got progressively worse as they booed Serena and cheered her errors even as she won the title in three sets.

Serena later said she cried for hours in the locker room after that final. Remember, she was only 19 at the time and already a Grand Slam winner.

Even without the accusations of fixing and racism, it was hurtful behaviour. She would qualify for Indian Wells through her ranking but is not on the entry list for the tournament which runs from October this year after being postponed in March due to the Covid pandemic. WTA Finals. Six first-timers, but whose run to WTA Finals is most surprising?

She returned in and lost in the final to Victoria Azarenka the following year. Her last appearance at the tournament was in when she was beaten in the second round by Garbine Muguruza. Holding back tears in her post-match press conference, the world No 3 said: "This is very hard to articulate.

Basically I feel like I'm kind of at this point where I'm trying to figure out what I want to do, and I honestly don't know when I'm going to play my next tennis match.