Serena Williams withdraws herself from the BNP Paribas Open which begins on Wednesday due to a knee injury on left side, this leaves the desert competition without any top-ranked women's player.

This injury and withdrawal has left Williams with no chance of retaining her top rank. Angelique Kerber, who will be the only top-seeded player in the Indian Wells event, will overcome Williams at No.1 after the competition. The Australian Open champion was needed to reach the semi-finals to retain her top spot.

On Tuesday, Williams released a statement through the tournament page that she won't play the Miami Open, which begins March 21 and is also not far from her Florida base. She has been idle since beating her sister Venus Williams in the Australian Open final on 28th January.

Williams' only tournament this year was in Auckland, New Zealand where she eventually lost in the round of 16. She said that she is very sad to withdraw from the BNP Paridas Open in Indian Wells and the Miami Open. She has not been able to train due to her knees and she is disappointed not to take part in the competition. She assures her fans that she will continue to move forward and look forward to being back as soon as possible.

Williams has a good history at the Indian Wells competition, she is a two-time winner of the competition. She withdrew before her semi-final match in 2015 with a sprained right knee and lost to Victoria Azarenka in straight sets in the previous year's final.

Venus Williams, seeded 12th returns for the second straight year in the competition. Victoria Azarenka will also miss the competition who gave birth to her son last December, two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova also misses out after being attacked in home invasion last year. Maria Sharapova is another top-seed player to miss out who is serving a 15-month doping ban and will return in late April.

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