Former Top 5 Players Belinda Bencic and Sloane Stephens Added to Main Draws
Grand Slam Champion Petra Kvitova, ATP Rising Star João Fonseca
Previously Awarded Wild Cards
BNP Paribas Open Awards 2025 WildCards
INDIAN WELLS, Calif., February 28, 2025 – 2020 Olympic Gold Medalist Belinda Bencic and 2017 US Open Champion Sloane Stephens headline the list of players awarded main draw wild cards into the 2025 BNP Paribas Open, a combined ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 event to be held March 2-16 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
Switzerland’s Bencic heads to Tennis Paradise looking to continue her strong start to the 2025 season after taking home the title in Abu Dhabi earlier this month. Bencic returned to Tour in October 2024 following the birth of her first child, Bella. Joining her will be the former World No. 3 and Grand Slam champion Stephens. Americans Robin Montgomery, Alycia Parks and Bernarda Pera were also awarded entry into the main draw, as well as Southern California native Iva Jovic, the runner-up at the inaugural FILA International Junior Championships at Indian Wells in 2023. Jovic reached the second round at both the 2024 US Open and 2025 Australian Open in her first two Grand Slam main draw appearances.
Former World No. 2 and two-time Wimbledon Champion (2011, 2014) Petra Kvitova also previously received a main draw wild card. Kvitova will be returning to the desert for the first time since 2023, when she reached the quarterfinal. One additional WTA main draw wild card remains to be awarded in the coming days.
American Reilly Opelka, a four-time champion on the ATP Tour, headlines the list of men’s main draw wild cards, alongside a pair of former standout Stanford University players and Southern California natives Nishesh Basavareddy and Tristan Boyer. Basavareddy and Boyer both made their Grand Slam debuts at the 2025 Australian Open, with Boyer winning his first round match.
Rising teenage star João Fonseca – fresh off winning his first ATP title at the 2025 Argentina Open – was previously awarded a wild card into the 2025 BNP Paribas Open, as was 19-year-old Learner Tien. Tien, who produced the biggest result of his career by reaching the fourth round at the 2025 Australian Open, has since moved into the main draw on the basis of his ranking, leaving one main draw wild card still to be awarded.
Wild cards into the BNP Paribas Open men’s qualifying draw were awarded to former University of Texas Longhorn Eliot Spizzirri; current University of Arizona senior Colton Smith; 19-year-old Frenchman Theo Papamalamis; and Thousand Oaks, California native Rudy Quan, a current freshman at UCLA who earned his qualifying wild card after winning the 2024 FILA International Junior Championship singles title. One additional wild card into the BNP Paribas Open qualifying draw will be announced prior to the start of play.
Three-time Junior Grand Slam Champion and 2023 FILA International Junior Champion Clervie Ngounoue received a wild card into the BNP Paribas Open women’s qualifying draw, as did Carlsbad, California native Julieta Pareja; 2025 Australian Open Girls’ Doubles Champion Kristina Pencikova; 2017 Roland Garros Girls’ Singles Champion Whitney Osuigwe; 2024 FILA International Junior Champion Valerie Glozman; and Belgium’s Hanne Vandewinkel.
The 2025 BNP Paribas Open begins on March 2 with WTA qualifying play. The main draw will commence on March 5 and the tournament will conclude on March 16 with the men’s and women’s singles finals.
