Serena Williams has decided to end her 14-year boycott of the Indian Wells tournament.
“Thirteen years and a lifetime in tennis later, things feel different,” she wrote in TIME magazine, announcing her decision to return to the tournament for the first time since 2001, when she was heckled by fans during the final against Kim Clijsters and, according to her father, Richard, also suffered racial abuse.
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Organisers have always denied that. The fans apparently were upset about elder sister Venus’s late withdrawal from an all-Williams semi-final on the previous day.
Williams had pondered a return last year but decided to opt out later as, apparently, the scars of 2001 had not healed. The events of that day still “haunt” her and she has not forgotten “spending hours crying in the Indian Wells locker room” after her win.
Serena is looking for a “different ending” to this tale. Indians Wells was her “absolute favourite tournament” until then.
Two years earlier, at the age of 17, she had defeated Steffi Graf in the final for her first title on US soil.
“I play for the love of the game,” Serena wrote.
“And it is with that love in mind, and a new understanding of the true meaning of forgiveness, that I will proudly return to Indian Wells in 2015.”
Venus has given no indication she is ready to make the same decision, but perhaps that would be best.
The sisters have made their point, through boycott, but appearing together in Indian Wells now would be their moment of triumph.
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