Organizers of the Indian Wells tennis tournament have issued an apology after a clerical error led to Venus Williams and Leylah Fernandez being denied entry into the women's doubles draw. A wildcard entry for the pair was not certified ahead of the draw.
"We have apologized 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," organizers stated. The error could not be corrected as the draw had already been completed.
Fans had anticipated seeing the duo, who reached the U.S. Open quarter-finals last year, compete together. Williams and Fernandez will instead participate in mixed doubles events.