INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — For a change, it was the trailblazing Venus Williams’s turn to follow her younger sister Serena’s lead.
One year after Serena Williams returned to the desert tournament now called the BNP Paribas Open for the first time in 14 years, Venus followed in her footsteps Friday afternoon, taking the court for a second-round match against Kurumi Nara and receiving a warm reception.
But after rain swept through the desert midway through the first set, the weather turned cold and blustery, and the 10th-seeded Williams struggled to find her form, ultimately falling, 6-4, 6-3, to the 89th-ranked Nara.