Serena Williams Now Eligible to Play But ‘No Word’ on Indian Wells Yet

Serena Williams is officially eligible to return to professional tennis—but it doesn’t appear like it will happen at Indian Wells next month.

A spokesperson for the BNP Paribas Open tells Front Office Sports they have received “no word or indication from Serena and her teams regarding any plans to return.”  

The 44-year-old Williams regained her professional eligibility on Feb. 22, six months after re-entering the drug testing pool of the International Tennis Integrity Association. 

The BNP Paribas Open starts March 4 and is the first WTA 1000 tournament on the schedule since Williams regained professional eligibility. The next Grand Slam tournament is the French Open in May, which Williams has won three times.

A spokesperson for Serena Williams did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

In December, tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg first reported Williams’s entry in the ITIA’s drug-testing pool. She immediately denied that she was returning to pro tennis.

But in January, Williams did not give a direct answer when asked on the Today show whether she was planning to return: “That’s not a yes or no. I don’t know. I’m just gonna see what happens.”

A comeback at Indian Wells would have come at somewhat of a surprise considering Williams’s complicated relationship with the tournament.

She has won the tournament two times, first in 1999, when it was still called the Evert Cup. It was the first WTA 1000 win of her career, and came just months before she won her first Grand Slam title at the 1999 US Open.

But in 2001, when she claimed her second title, Williams and her family accused fans of racial abuse after Serena was heckled during her finals match after her older sister, Venus, withdrew from a semifinals match between the two sisters.

She went on to boycott the tournament for 14 years, only returning in 2015. 

Venus Williams will play at Indian Wells this year after receiving the tournament’s first wildcard entry Friday. The former world No. 1 will be participating in the women’s singles and doubles maindraw, though her doubles partner is set to be Canada’s Leylah Fernandez, who she has partnered with in past tournaments.

The Williams sisters are considered one of the most dominant doubles pairs in history, winning 14 Grand Slam titles, tied for second most in the Open Era.

Venus Williams, 45, has been sporadically playing in pro tournaments over the last year. In July, she became the oldest person in more than two decades to win a professional match after beating Peyton Stearns at the DC Open.

The BNP Paribas Open was purchased by billionaire Larry Ellison in 2009 for a reported $100 million.