The tennis icon is set for a return to the court later this year.

Venus Williams is set to compete at Indian Wells (Image: Getty)

Venus Williams is set for a return to tennis after being handed a wildcard for this year’s Indian Wells event.

The seven-time Grand Slam winner hasn’t featured since losing in the first round of the Miami Open last year.

Her only other appearance in 2024 was at Indian Wells where she also lost in the first round, but Williams has maintained she has no pressing intentions to retire from tennis.

Williams is a three-time semi-finalist at Indian Wells, with this year’s appearance marking the 10th time she’s featured at the tournament in California.

The tennis star, along with sister Serena, has been credited as a trailblazer for the sport but now into her forties, questions about her future in tennis have been posed.

Commenting on her retirement plans last year, she said: “Serena ruined it for me because as soon as she retired, everybody thought I retired. And sometimes I even think we’re twins. So if you guys did think so we are, we are two separate people born on different days.”

In the television interview, she added: “I always thought that I would just be just crying when I had to retire because it’s all you know, you spend your whole life just like programming your mind and do that every single day.

Venus Williams was knocked out of Indian Wells in the first round last year (Image: Getty)

“It’s the first thing you think about when you wake up and the first thing when you go to bed and like you dream about it and all these kinds of things. So now I realise that I, I won’t cry because I’ve definitely given everything to the sport.”

Williams maintained she can still cut it with the best though, adding: “It’s nice to be in a place where I can pick and choose, but my game is always at a high level. Even if I’m not on tour, I always keep my game quite high.”

Alongside Williams, Petra Kvitova has also been given a wildcard to appear at Indian Wells, having sat out the entire 2024 season.

The 2011 and 2013 Wimbledon winner had missed a year’s worth of action due to the pregnancy and birth of her first child.

She announced at the beginning of 2025 her intentions to return to action, with the Czech ace expected to feature at the ATX Open in Texas later this month.

In the men’s draw, Joao Fonseca and Learner Tien have both been handed wildcard entries, with the duo having impressed at this year’s Australian Open.

The action begins on the first weekend of March and runs for two weeks throughout the month.