March 5, 2026; Indian Wells, California, USA; Venus Williams (USA) hits a shot during her first round match against Diane Parry (FRA) during the first round of the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Image Venus Williams lost 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-1 to French qualifier Diane Parry in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open held in Indian Wells, California last Thursday, falling to her fifth consecutive loss of the season.
Williams, 45, lost her opening match in Auckland, New Zealand. Hobart, Australia; Australian Open; Austin, Texas; And now it is Indian Wells, 2026. Her overall skid is eight games since a first-round win in Washington last summer.
Parry finished the match with a 9-4 advantage in aces and saved three of the four break points he faced. She will next meet No. 15 seed Madison Keys.
Croatia’s Donna Vekic, another player who has not won a tour-level event this year, beat Tereza Valentova of the Czech Republic 7-6(4), 7-6(4) to advance to a second-round match against fifth seed Jessica Pegula.
In another first round match, Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic defeated former Australian Open finalist Sofia Kenin of the United States 1-6, 6-4, 6-1. Kenin was hampered by seven double faults.
Four American players earned victories Thursday afternoon. Ashlyn Krueger downed Poland’s Magda Linette 6-1, 6-4. Taylor Townsend defeated Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-1, while Kayla Day defeated Francesca Jones of Great Britain 6-3, 6-1. Katie Volinec won the first set 6-1, while Slovakia’s Rebeka Sramkova retired after receiving treatment on her right leg.
Other first-round winners included Austria’s Lilli Tagger, Spain’s Cristina Bucsa, Hungary’s Anna Bondar, England’s Sonay Kartal, Germany’s Laura Siegemund and Australia’s Storm Hunter.
–Field level media
