INDIAN WELLS TENNIS UPDATE – BNP PARIBAS OPEN ANNOUNCES MORE WILDCARDS

Written by: Staff on 4th March 2016

INDIAN WELLS TENNIS UPDATE - BNP PARIBAS OPEN ANNOUNCES MORE WILDCARDS |

5 days until the #BNPPO16 – Photo by @bnpparibasopen via Instagram.

EIGHT AMERICANS, TWO-TIME BNP PARIBAS OPEN CHAMPION DANIELA HANTUCHOVA AND FORMER BRITISH NO. 1 HEATHER WATSON AWARDED WILDCARDS INTO BNP PARIBAS OPEN

Grand Slam Champion Juan Martin del Potro, American Taylor Fritz And Australian Open Quarterfinalist Zhang Shuai Previously Accepted Wildcards Into Tournament

Grand Slam Champions Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Ana Ivanovic And Petra Kvitova Earn Wildcards Into Doubles Draw

Qualifying Wildcards Distributed To Americans Michael Mmoh, Ernesto Escobedo, Jessica Pegula, Sachia Vickery and Raveena Kingsley, And Slovakia’s Jana Cepelova

Eight Americans, along with two-time BNP Paribas Open Champion Daniela Hantuchova and former British No. 1 Heather Watson, were awarded wildcards into the BNP Paribas Open, to be held March 7-20 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, it was announced today by CEO Ray Moore.

Americans who were granted wildcards into the main draws include Rajeev Ram, who reached the finals of Delray Beach last month; Frances Tiafoe, the youngest player in Top 200 of the ATP World Tour rankings; Mackenzie McDonald, a former collegiate standout at UCLA and Pac-12 Player of the Year; Samantha Crawford, who reached the semifinals at Brisbane in January; Alison Riske, who reached the finals at Shenzen earlier this season; Lauren Davis, who reached the third round of the 2016 Australian Open; Jamie Loeb, who won the 2015 NCAA Singles title at the University of North Carolina; and Shelby Rogers, who reached the finals at Rio de Janeiro in February.

Grand Slam Champion Juan Martin del Potro, American Taylor Fritz and Australian Open quarterfinalist Zhang Shuai were previously awarded wildcards into the main draw.

Grand Slam Champions Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Ana Ivanovic and Petra Kvitova were granted wildcards into the doubles draws. Murray teams with Colin Fleming, Wawrinka pairs with Mahesh Bhupathi, Ivanovic partners with Kirsten Flipkens, and Kvitova will play with Denisa Allertova.

“Wildcards present an opportunity to give both talented veterans and up-and-coming players the opportunity to compete in the BNP Paribas Open,” said Moore. “From Americans to a Grand Slam Champion to a two-time BNP Paribas Open Champion, we are excited about the players we have added to the field. In addition, we are thrilled to continue the tradition of fans having the chance to watch some of the top ranked singles players in the doubles competition with Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Ana Ivanovic and Petra Kvitova getting wildcards.”

There are also three more men’s and two more women’s qualifying draw wildcards to be distributed. Two of those qualifying wildcards will be given to the men’s and women’s winners of the BNP Paribas Open Challenge, the pre-qualifying event for the tournament.

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 underwent a significant expansion in 2014 that included 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 2015, more than 456,000 people attended the event. For more information or to purchase tickets visit

www.bnpparibasopen.com, call 800-999-1585 or visit the Indian Wells Tennis Garden box office at 78-200 Miles Avenue, Indian Wells, CA, 92210.