BNP Paribas Open – Main Draw & Qualifying Wildcards Announced In Indian Wells

Written by: Staff on 26th February 2014

Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis

BNP Paribas Open - Main Draw & Qualifying Wildcards Announced In Indian Wells

epa03119120 Donald Young of the US reacts to a missed shot during second round match play against John Isner of the US in the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis, Tennessee, USA 23 February 2012. EPA/TANNEN MAURY |

Qualifying Wildcards Given To Nine Americans,

Australian Thanasi Kokkinaxis, United Kingdom’s Heather Watson

INDIAN WELLS, Calif., Feb. 26, 2014 – Former top five players Nadia Petrova and Vera Zvonareva; Americans Donald Young, Jack Sock, Ryan Harrison, Steve Johnson, Rhyne Williams, Coco Vandeweghe, Shelby Rogers, Vicky Duval and Taylor Townsend; and Donna Vekic and Belinda Bencic were granted wildcards into the main draws of the BNP Paribas Open, to be held March 3 – 16 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, it was announced today by Tournament Director Steve Simon.

Russia’s Nadia Petrova has won 13 career WTA single titles and 24 doubles crowns. The former World No. 3 has reached nine Grand Slam quarterfinals, advancing to the semifinals twice. Fellow Russian star and 2009 BNP Paribas Open champion Vera Zvonareva has 12 career WTA singles triumphs and six doubles titles. The former World No. 2 also has two Grand Slam finals appearances.

In addition, nine Americans have been granted wildcards into the main draws including Donald Young, who reached the third round of this year’s Australian Open; 21-year-old Jack Sock, who advanced to the third round of the 2013 U.S. Open; Ryan Harrison, who boasted a career-high ranking of No. 43 in 2012; two-time NCAA Champion from USC Steve Johnson, who reached the third round of the 2012 US Open; Rhyne Williams, who is coming off a quarterfinals appearance at Delray Beach, pushing top-ranked American and World No. 13 John Isner to three sets; Coco Vandeweghe, a two-time ITF singles winner; Shelby Rogers, a four-time singles champion on the ITF circuit; Vicky Duval, who achieved a career-high ranking earlier this year after jumping 528 rankings places since the end of 2011; and 17-year-old Taylor Townsend, who turned professional in 2012 after reaching the top of the junior rankings earlier that year.

Two other international players receiving main draw wildcards are 17-year-old Croatian Donna Vekic, who reached a career-high ranking of No. 62 in 2013 and 16-year-old Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, who advanced to the second round of the Australian Open earlier this year.

“This year’s main draw wildcards span from established veterans, to rising American and international stars,” said Simon. “Awarding wildcards to players like Nadia Petrova, Vera Zvonareva, Donald Young, Jack Sock and others, add to the excitement for fans and provide the potential for these deserving athletes to make a run at the BNP Paribas Open.”

Qualifying wildcards were given to Americans Raymond Sarmiento, Stefan Kozlov, Clay Thompson, Irina Falconi, Madison Brengle, Grace Min and Allie Kiick, Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinaxis and the United Kingdom’s Heather Watson.

Sarmiento is a senior-standout at USC and member of two NCAA team championships for the Trojans. Sixteen-year-old Kozlov achieved a career-high ranking in February, after turning pro in 2013. Thompson reached a career-high ranking in 2013. Falconi cracked the WTA top 100 in 2011 and advanced to the second round of this year’s Australian Open. Brengle reached a career-high ranking earlier this year, and has won five ITF singles titles. Min won the 2011 US Open Junior Championship and three ITF titles in 2012, while Kiick also has three ITF singles crowns. Kokkinaxis advanced to the second round at this year’s Australian Open, where he pushed World No. 1 Rafael Nadal to three sets. Watson has one WTA singles title and two doubles titles.

In addition to the aforementioned qualifying wildcards, the winners of each BNP Paribas Challenge, the pre-qualifying event for the tournament, which takes place February 24 – March 1, will also be granted a berth into the 2014 BNP Paribas Open qualifying draw. Women’s qualifying starts March 3 and men’s qualifying begins March 4.

About the BNP Paribas Open

The BNP Paribas Open is the largest ATP World Tour and WTA combined two-week event in the world, and is held annually at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. The site has undergone a significant expansion that includes a new permanent Stadium 2 with 8,000 seats and three restaurants, including world-renowned Nobu; four more practice courts, an additional 19,000 square foot shade structure, and more. The tournament offers more than $10 million in prize money, and is the only event to provide the Hawkeye line challenge system on all match courts, including qualifying rounds. In 2013, more than 380,000 people attended the event. Visit www.bnpparibasopen.com for more information, to purchase tickets and for live coverage starting March 3. Indian Wells Tennis Garden Box Office, 800-999-1585 or 760-200-8000, 78-200 Miles Avenue, Indian Wells, CA, 92210.

About BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas (www.bnpparibas.com) has a presence in nearly 80 countries with 190,000 employees, including 145,000 in Europe. It ranks highly in its three core activities: Retail Banking, Investment Solutions and Corporate & Investment Banking. In Europe, the Group has four domestic markets (Belgium, France, Italy and Luxembourg) and BNP Paribas Personal Finance is the leader in consumer lending. BNP Paribas is rolling out its integrated retail banking model across Mediterranean basin countries, in Turkey, in Eastern Europe and a large network, Bank of the West, in the western part of the United States. In its Corporate & Investment Banking and Investment Solutions activities, BNP Paribas also enjoys top positions in Europe, a strong presence in the Americas and solid and fast-growing businesses in Asia-Pacific.

BNP Paribas and Tennis

2013 has seen BNP Paribas celebrate the 40th anniversary of its partnership with the French Open, Roland Garros. Since this first historical commitment, BNP Paribas has extended its partnership with tennis across the world and to all levels of the sport – both individual and team competitions, wheelchair tennis, local family clubs as well as the professional game; from those just learning the game to those competing in the top tournaments on the pro circuit. Building on this, BNP Paribas launched wearetennis.com; a website entirely dedicated to tennis news. It is a unique initiative which provides tennis fans with a constant flow of information on tennis events with coverage of all the ATP, WTA and ITF tournaments. Today BNP Paribas is the world number one sponsor of tennis: Official sponsor of Roland Garros, title sponsor of the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships, sponsor of 4 ATP Masters 1000 events (BNP Paribas Masters, Monte Carlo Rolex Masters, Internazionali BNL d’Italia – Rome, BNP Paribas Open – Indian Wells), title sponsor of the Davis Cup and the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas, Partner of the Brussels Open with BNP Paribas Fortis, partner of the Bank of the West Classic – California, the Grand Prix Hassan II – Casablanca, the Grand Prix SARS Leila Meriem – Fès, the Open 13 – Marseille, the Moselle Open, the BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open, the AEGON Championships – London, the Open de Nice, the Open Sud de France, the BNP Paribas Showdown – New York, the BNP Paribas tennis classic – Hurlingham, and the BNP Paribas Zurich Open. Other partnerships BNP Paribas has formed over the years include with international wheelchair tennis (the BNP Paribas Open, the BNP Paribas World Team Cup) and the Junior and the university tennis (the Davis Cup and the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas, the Master’U BNP Paribas, the BNP Paribas Cup, the BNP Paribas National Tennis Academy of Dublin, the BNP Paribas Junior Tennis Masters-Athens). BNP Paribas is currently working through partnerships with more than 20 local tennis federations and more than 550 amateur tournaments across the world and supports many charities which aim to educate children by teaching them to play tennis.

Topics: 10sballs, Atp World Tour, BNP Paribas Open, Coco Vandeweghe, Donald Young, Donna Vekic, Indian Wells, jack sock, Nadia Petrova, Rhyne Williams, Ryan Harrison, Shelby Rogers, Sports, Steve Johnson, Taylor Townsend, Tennis, Vera Zvonareva, Vicky Duval, Wildcards, Wta

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February 26, 2014 at 6:03 pm

BNP Paribas Open – Main Draw & Qualifying Wildcards Announced In Indian Wells – http://t.co/PypiVychil #BNPParibasOpen #wildcard #tennis