During the
2001 Indian Wells Open tournament in
Indian Wells, California,
Venus Williams withdrew four minutes prior to her semifinal match with her sister
Serena. Serena was booed often during the match, which she won 4–6, 6–4, 6–2, and the booing continued into the presentation ceremony.
Oracene Price (mother and coach of Venus and Serena) accused the crowd of "taking off their hoods".
Effects and criticism After the initial controversy, neither Williams sister played the
tournament in Indian Wells for 14 years. Between 2009-19, the
Women's Tennis Association classified the Indian Wells tournament as a
Premier Mandatory event for all eligible players. Those allegations continued and increased as a result of her withdrawal. Serena discusses what happened in her view at Indian Wells in detail in an entire chapter titled "The Fiery Darts of Indian Wells" in her 2009 autobiography,
On the Line. She says that on the morning of the semifinal, Venus told the tour trainer that she had injured her knee and didn't think she could play and tried for hours to get approval from the trainer to withdraw, but the tournament officials kept stalling. What got me most of all was that it wasn't just a scattered bunch of boos. It wasn't coming from just one section. It was like the whole crowd got together and decided to boo all at once. The ugliness was just raining down on me, hard. I didn't know what to do. Nothing like this had ever happened to me. What was most surprising about this uproar was the fact that tennis fans are typically a well-mannered bunch. They're respectful. They sit still. And in Palm Springs, especially, they tended to be pretty well-heeled, too. But I looked up and all I could see was a sea of rich people—mostly older, mostly white—standing and booing lustily, like some kind of genteel lynch mob. I don't mean to use such inflammatory language to describe the scene, but that's really how it seemed from where I was down on the court. Like these people were gonna come looking for me after the match. ... There was no mistaking that all of this was meant for me. I heard the word
nigger a couple times, and I knew. I couldn't believe it. That's just not something you hear in polite society on that stadium court ... Just before the start of play, my dad and Venus started walking down the aisle to the players' box by the side of the court, and everybody turned and started to point and boo at them ... It was mostly just a chorus of boos, but I could still hear shouts of 'Nigger!' here and there. I even heard one angry voice telling us to go back to Compton. It was unbelievable ... We refused to return to Indian Wells. Even now, all these years later, we continue to boycott the event. It's become a mandatory tournament on the tour, meaning that the WTA can fine a player if she doesn't attend. But I don't care if they fine me a million dollars, I will not play there again. However, on February 3, 2015, Serena Williams wrote an exclusive column for
Time magazine stating her intentions to return to Indian Wells for a tournament on March 9, 2015. She did indeed return and won her opening match. Williams withdrew before her semi-final match with
Simona Halep because of a knee injury. The WTA announced on January 27, 2016, that Venus would return to Indian Wells for the first time in 15 years. ==Best result in Grand Slam singles (combined)==