Stephens, Bencic, Basavareddy join list of Indian Wells wild cards

Tournament officials for the upcoming BNP Paribas Open announced additional wild cards on Friday. Among them are Sloane Stephens.

Sloane Stephens of the United States gets ready to return a shot during a tennis match at the BNP Paribas Open played on October 6, 2021 (Panoramic)

Ricky Dimon

March 1, 2025

Sloane Stephens and Belinda Bencic headlined the list of additional wild-card recipients at the BNP Paribas Open, tournament organisers announced on Friday afternoon.

Stephens, Bencic, Alycia Parks, Robin Montgomery, Iva Jovic and Bernarda Pera will join Petra Kvitova in the WTA 1000 main draw in Indian Wells. Kvitova, who — like Bencic — is making her way back to the tour following childbirth, was awarded a wild card earlier this month.

Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion and 2018 Roland-Garros runner-up, reached the Indian Wells quarter-finals back in 2014.

Bencic was sidelined from September of 2023 until late October of 2024. The Swiss reached round four of the Australian Open (lost to Coco Gauff) earlier this year and then won the Abu Dhabi title.

Joining Joao Fonseca and Learner Tien on the list of ATP wild cards at “Tennis Paradise” were Nishesh Basavareddy, Reilly Opelka and Tristan Boyer.

Opelka had been entered in the field with a protected ranking, but he can save a PR use now that he has a wild card. Basavareddy, 19, and Boyer, 23, figure to be fan favorites at the upcoming Masters 1000 event as California natives and former Stanford University tennis standouts. Both excelled at the recent Aussie Open. Basavareddy took a set off Novak Djokovic and Boyer reached the second round as a qualifier.

Main-draw action at the BNP Paribas Open in Palm Springs, California begins next Wednesday.