Belinda Bencic, Sloane Stephens and Reilly Opelka Awarded Indian Wells Wild Cards

By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday February 28, 2025

2020 Olympic Gold Medalist Belinda Bencic and 2017 US Open Champion Sloane Stephens are joining Petra Kvitova as BNP Paribas Open wild card recipients into the women’s singles main draw at Indian Wells.

Switzerland’s Bencic is in the early stages of her comeback from maternity leave – she gave birth to her baby girl Bella last April.

Also Read: Venus Williams Turns Down Indian Wells Wild Card

The former World No.4 (currently 58) took home the title in Abu Dhabi earlier this month. Americans Robin Montgomery, Alycia Parks and Bernarda Pera were also awarded entry into the main draw, as well as Southern California native Iva Jovic, a 17-year-old ranked 162.

An American tradition 🇺🇸🎾 #TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/AnepaAH3mR

— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) February 26, 2025

One additional WTA main draw wild card remains to be awarded in the coming days.

On the men’s side, American Reilly Opelka 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 and Basavareddy, who reached the semifinals in Auckland, pushing Novak Djokovic to four sets.

Those wild cards will join previously named recipients Joao Fonseca. Learner Tien was previous awarded a wild card but has now qualified on the basis of his ranking, so there is one more men’s singles wild card to be awarded.