On Sunday March 8, seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams and Canada’s Leylah Fernandez lost the Round of 64 match of the women’s singles event in the ongoing Indian Wells 2026. Williams was defeated in the opening round by Diane Parry while Fernandez faced defeat to Katerina Siniakova in the second round. Both the players were supposed to make a wildcard entry in women’s doubles as a pair but they were denied by the organizers of the event.
Reportedly, the organisers had made a clerical error and failed to certify a wildcard entry in the women’s doubles event. All possible options were reviewed to sort out the matter with the WTA supervisor but nothing could have been made out as the draw was already set.
Faced by the error, the organizers then offered their apology to Williams and Fernandez and regretted making the mistake on their part. “We have apologised 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.” Both the players were quarterfinalists of the 2026 US Open and had lost to runners-up players Taylor Townsend and Siniakova respectively.
Despite their loss in the women’s singles event, Williams and Fernandez remain in contention as they will play the mixed doubles event. Williams will join her American compatriot Christian Harrison, while Fernandez will partner with Australia’s John Peers.
Williams had lost the first round match to Parry by sets of 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-1. The American had received a wild card entry into the singles and doubles draw events. The 45-year-old had earned her qualification after 30 years since she made her Indian Wells debut in 1996 at the age of 15. Williams made her 10th career appearance in the tournament and first since 2024. She had received a wild card entry last year, but she did not take it.
Williams competed in the Australian Open in January this year but has lost the first round in both the singles and doubles event. She became the oldest woman player to compete in the tournament’s single main draw surpassing Japan’s Kimiko Date, who made her participation in 2015 at 44 years. Williams’ recent participation was at the ATX Open held in Texas last month. She entered the competition as a wild-card entrant but lost her first round in the singles match to Ajla Tomljanovic.
