March 10 (Reuters) – Organisers of the Indian Wells tennis tournament apologised to Venus Williams and her playing partner Leylah Fernandez after a clerical error ahead of the women’s doubles draw denied the wildcard duo the opportunity to compete.
Seven-times Grand Slam champion Williams, 45, was beaten in the opening round of the singles tournament by Diane Parry while Canada’s Fernandez lost to Katerina Siniakova in the second round.
However, organisers said they had made an error and failed to certify the doubles wildcard entry of the pair ahead of the draw.
“We worked with the WTA supervisor to review all available options, but because the draw had already been made, the mistake could not be corrected,” organisers said in a statement.
“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.”
Fans were eager to catch the duo in action in the doubles after they reached the U.S. Open quarter-finals last year, losing to eventual runners-up Taylor Townsend and Siniakova.
However, they will be in mixed doubles action, Williams teaming up with American compatriot Christian Harrison and Fernandez partnering Australian John Peers.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)