'Injured' Serena Williams withdraws from Indian Wells tournament

World number one Serena Williams has reportedly withdrawn her name from the upcoming WTA tournament at Indian Wells, which she entered last month after boycotting it since 2001.

The move came hours after the 17-time Grand Slam singles champion withdrew from next week's 2.4 million-dollar WTA event in Doha, Qatar, due to a back injury she suffered at the Australian Open.

According to Sport24, Williams however, did not cite injury as the reason behind her withdrawal, merely saying that after careful consideration, she has decided not to return to the Indian Wells BNP Paribas Open this year and sent her best wishes to everyone involved with the tournament.

The American's earlier decision to enter the event were a thaw in relations that became icy in 2001 since she and her older sister Venus boycotted the California event, when Serena was fiercely booed as she played Kim Clijsters in the final as Venus had defaulted to her due to tendinitis before they were scheduled to meet in the semi-finals.

The report mentioned that Williams entered the event last month after saying at the Australian Open that she was considering returning to Indian Wells after being inspired toward reconciliation after watching a movie about the late South African leader Nelson Mandela.

Williams, who lost to Victoria Azarenka in last year's Qatar Open final, last played in the fourth round of the Australian Open, where she was upset by Serbian Ana Ivanovic, the report added.