By Aiberto Amalfi | @Tennis_Now | Friday, March 1, 2024
The BNP Paribas Open field just grew even more formidable. .
Former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova, 2021 US Open champion Emma Radaucanu, 2021 BNP Paribas Open champion Paula Badosa and former Roland Garros semifinalist Amanda Anisimova have all been awarded wild cards into next week's BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
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The BNP Paribas Open is set for March 3-17.
Main draw play will begin on March 6, Rafael Nadal is set to make his return on Thursday night, March 7 and the tournament will conclude on Sunday, March 17 with the men’s and women’s singles finals.
Twenty-two-year-old American Anisimova, who reached the fourth round in Melbourne earlier this year in her return to Tour after seven months away from the game, was awarded entry into the main draw, along with Americans Ashlyn Krueger and McCartney Kessler.
Former World No. 1 and seven-time Grand Slam Singles Champion Venus Williams was previously received a main draw wild card, as was Caroline Wozniacki, the 2018 Australian Open and 2011 BNP Paribas Open Champion. Both players will be returning to the desert for the first time since 2019.
Twenty-two-year-old Brandon Nakashima, who won both his inaugural title at his hometown San Diego Open and the Next Gen ATP Finals crown in 2022, was awarded a main draw wild card, alongside former World No. 9 Fabio Fognini, who is a nine-time ATP Tour Singles Champion. 2024 Qatar Open finalist Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic, three-time ATP Challenger Tour winner Patrick Kypson and former University of Illinois All-American Aleksander Kovacevic are also on the list of ATP main draw wild card recipients.
Wild cards into the BNP Paribas Open men’s qualifying draw were awarded to former World No. 10 and five-time ATP Tour champion Lucas Pouille; Southern California native and former University of Southern California Trojan Steve Johnson; 22-year-old Stefan Dostanic, the winner of the 2023 USTA Southern California “Race to Indian Wells;” 2023 NCAA Men’s Singles Champion Ethan Quinn; and 17-year-old Cooper Woestendick, the winner of last year’s inaugural FILA International Junior Championships in Indian Wells and the 2024 Australian Open Boys’ Doubles Champion.
An all-American roster of BNP Paribas Open women’s qualifying wild cards includes 2022 Wimbledon Girls’ Singles champion Liv Hovde; 2021 US Open Girls’ Singles and Doubles Champion Robin Montgomery; 2024 Australian Open Girls’ Doubles Champion Iva Jovic; former University of California All-American and 2023 USTA Southern California “Race to Indian Wells” winner Haley Giavara; three-time Junior Grand Slam Champion Clervie Ngounoue; and New York native Christasha McNeil, a member of BNP Paribas’s Mac 1 Team.
Photo credit: Bradley Kanaris/Getty