Serena ends long boycott of Indian Wells event

Top-ranked Serena Williams, coming off her 19th Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open, said on Wednesday she will end a 14-year boycott of the Indian Wells WTA tournament.

Williams, in a essay written for Time magazine, related happier times at the event, her feelings over racial insults she heard after a controversial 2001 appearance and her hopes for playing the event next month.

"It has been difficult for me to forget spending hours crying in the Indian Wells locker room after winning in 2001, driving back to Los Angeles feeling as if I had lost the biggest game ever - not a mere tennis game but a bigger fight for equality," Williams wrote.