Alright, so Indian Wells 2024 was coming up, and like I usually do, I started paying attention. You know how it is, you get curious about who’s playing, especially the legends. Venus Williams is always on my radar. Just gotta see if she’s gonna be there, right?
So, I began my usual routine. Started checking the tennis news sites I follow, kept an eye on the official tournament feeds. I was specifically looking for any news about Venus. Did she get a wildcard? Was her name popping up anywhere on the early lists? I spent a good amount of time refreshing pages, scrolling through updates, that kind of thing. Just hoping to see her confirmed for the draw.
Then the entry lists started firming up. I scanned them pretty carefully. Looked again when the wildcards were announced. Still nothing. Checked the official draw when it came out just to be absolutely sure. Nope. No Venus Williams listed for Indian Wells this year. Honestly, it felt a bit weird. You sort of expect her to be there, battling it out like always.
While I was doing all this checking and watching, man, the tournament itself had its own drama. That rain! I remember seeing updates constantly popping up. Play suspended. Over and over. I was trying to follow some other matches, but it was tough with all the delays. Seemed like they barely got play in some evenings before they had to call it quits and push matches to the next day. Just a messy situation with the weather there.
Figuring things out
After realizing Venus wasn’t playing, I started seeing more talk about her situation. Heard she hadn’t played in quite a while, actually. Like, maybe a full year? And that her ranking was gonna disappear soon, making her ‘inactive’ on the official tour site. That explained why she wasn’t at Indian Wells. If you haven’t played competitively in that long, jumping into a big tournament like that… well, it makes sense she wasn’t there.
- Checked news feeds regularly.
- Scanned entry lists and wildcard announcements.
- Followed draw release closely.
- Noticed the constant rain delays impacting the event.
- Read reports about her long absence from the tour.
So, that was my whole ‘following Venus at Indian Wells 2024’ journey. It ended up being more about figuring out why she wasn’t there rather than watching her play. Still watched some of the tournament when the weather cleared up, saw some decent tennis. But yeah, it definitely felt like something was missing without her name in the draw. Makes you appreciate all the years she was there, you know?
