Venus Williams eliminated in opening round of BNP Paribas Open
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Venus Williams was eliminated from the BNP Paribas Open in the opening round on Thursday, losing 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-1 to France’s Diane Parry.
The 45-year-old Williams, who has suffered defeats in her last eight WTA matches, received a wild card entry into both the singles and doubles events for the tournament in Southern California.
After Williams fought back in the second set to level the score, the 23-year-old Parry, ranked 111th globally, took charge and dominated the third set.
This marked Williams’ 10th appearance in the tournament and her first since 2024, when she also exited in the first round as a wild card. The seven-time Grand Slam champion was offered a wild card last year but chose not to participate.
“I’m so excited to be heading back to Indian Wells and can’t wait to return home to play in California,” Williams expressed last month.
Entering the BNP Paribas Open, Williams had secured only one victory in her return to the tour, which occurred during her comeback at Washington last year.
She played in the Australian Open in January, where she was eliminated in the first round of both singles and doubles. Williams became the oldest woman to compete in the Australian Open singles main draw, breaking the previous record held by Japan’s Kimiko Date, who was 44 when she lost in the first round in 2015.
Most recently, Williams participated in the ATX Open in Austin, Texas, last month as a wild-card entrant and was defeated in the first round of singles by Ajla Tomljanovic.
Source: espn.com
