Venus Williams was beaten in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open, losing 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-1 to France’s Diane Parry. The 45-year-old, who received a wild card into both the singles and doubles draws, has now lost eight straight WTA singles matches.
Williams’ appearance at Indian Wells came 30 years after her debut at the tournament in 1996 as a 15-year-old. After she fought back to force a second-set tiebreak, 23-year-old Parry — ranked 111th — regrouped and controlled the decisive third set.
“Of course, losing isn’t fun, but it’s great to play in front of a home crowd,” Williams said. “They were behind me the whole way, and that was really fun for that. I have amazing fans that believe in me and it’s fun to play for them, or even in practice when they come out. It’s very thrilling. Yeah, today was a tough one, but that’s sport and that’s life, and I’ll take what I need from it.”
This marked Williams’ 10th appearance at Indian Wells and her first since 2024, when she also exited in the opening round as a wild-card recipient. She was offered a wild card last year but declined it.
Parry will meet 15th-seeded American Madison Keys in the second round on Saturday.
Williams entered the event having lost her previous seven matches; her only victory since returning to the tour was at Washington last year. She competed at the Australian Open in January, losing in the first round of both singles and doubles, but made history as the oldest woman to play in an Australian Open singles main draw, surpassing Kimiko Date’s record. Most recently she played the ATX Open in Austin as a wild card and fell in the first round to Ajla Tomljanovic.