Emma Raducanu, Karolina Pliskova join Venus Williams as BNP Paribas Open wild cards

U.S. Open 2021 champion Emma Raducanu headlines the list of players awarded main draw wild cards into the 2024 BNP Paribas Open that will be held March 3-17 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

The 22-year old Raducanu had a career-best showing in Indian Wells last March, reaching the round of 16.

Among the other main draw wild cards announced Friday are former world No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam finalist Karolina Pliskova, along with 2021 BNP Paribas Open champion Paula Badosa. Twenty-two-year-old American Amanda Anisimova, who reached the fourth round in Melbourne earlier this year in her return to Tour after seven months away from the game, was also 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 previously received a main draw wild card as did 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 event 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. Qatar Open 2024 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 U.S. 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.

The 2024 BNP Paribas Open begins Sunday with WTA qualifying play. Main draw play begins Wednesday, March 6, and the tournament ends Sunday, March 17 with the men’s and women’s singles finals.