Indian Wells is one of the most prestigious tournaments on the tennis calendar outside of the four Grand Slams, but there have been moments of controversy over the years.
It is often called the ‘fifth Grand Slam’ due to its huge attendance and is home to the second largest tennis stadium in the world, behind Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows.
It hasn’t been a happy tournament for everyone, however, with Naomi Osaka being brought to tears by a heckler and said it reminded her of an incident involving the Williams sisters in 2001.
Serena won the title that year aged 19, beating Kim Clijsters in the final, but was booed throughout the match and racially assaulted, along with her sister Venus and father Richard.
The Williams sisters were due to face each other in the semi-finals, but Venus pulled out of the match 20 minutes before, citing a knee injury, which angered the crowd.
This only fueled suggestions that Richard decided in advance which sister would win their matches against each other.
The vitriolic abuse directed at the Williams family was horrific and they swore never to return to Indian Wells.
Serena said in her 2009 autobiography, On the Line, “What appealed to me the most was that it wasn’t just a bunch of scattered boos. It didn’t come from just one section.
“It was like the whole crowd had gotten together and decided to boo all of a sudden. The ugliness was raining down on me, hard. I didn’t know what to do.
“Nothing like this had ever happened to me. What was most surprising about this uproar was the fact that tennis fans are generally well-mannered. They’re respectful. They sit still. And in Palm Springs, in particular, they tended to be rather well off too.
“But I looked up and all I could see was a sea of wealthy people – mostly old, mostly white – standing and booing vigorously, like some sort of genteel lynching mob.
“I don’t want to use such inflammatory language to describe the scene, but that’s really what it looked like from where I was on the pitch. Like these people were coming to pick me up after the game.
“There was no doubt that this was all meant for me. I heard the word n***** several times and I knew it. I could not believe it.
“It’s just not something you hear in polite society on this stadium pitch.
“Just before the game started, my dad and Venus started walking down the aisle towards the players’ box next to the pitch, and everyone turned around and started pointing and booing them. .
“It was mostly just a chorus of boos, but I could still hear cries of ‘N*****!’ here and there.
“I even heard an angry voice telling us to go back to Compton. It was amazing.
“We refused to return to Indian Wells. Even now, all these years later, we continue to boycott the event.
Serena Williams decided to end her boycott in 2015, after 14 years away from the tournament in California.
“I feel like that was 14 years ago and it’s now,” she said after deciding to return. “I gave my best at this event and I’m really happy to have put a lot of that behind me.
“If I had known I had to retire, I would have played anyway just to have the opportunity to be back at this tournament and be able to play.”
Venus Williams returned to Indian Wells the following year after refusing to attend after 15 years.