Belinda Bencic And Sloane Stephens Among Players Awarded Indian Wells Wild Cards
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Several WTA and ATP wild cards were announced for the 2025 Indian Wells Open, with Belinda Bencic one of the players given entry into the tournament.
Bencic returned to professional tennis in the closing stages of 2024. She had been on maternity leave for almost a year before making a comeback at an ITF tournament and in the Billie Jean King Cup, representing Switzerland.
The 27-year-old's level so far this year may have even surprised herself. Bencic reached the fourth round of the 2025 Australian Open and was competitive against Coco Gauff in her defeat to the American.
Bencic won the 2025 Abu Dhabi Open title a couple of weeks later. Her run to glory included a semifinal triumph against the defending champion Elena Rybakina, recovering from a set down in that match.
Bencic's best result at the Indian Wells Open was reaching the semifinal in 2019. Bettering that achievement will be difficult, but her best tennis is challenging for any player to compete against.
Sloane Stephens was also given a wild card into the tournament. The 2017 US Open champion has many devoted fans and her presence will undoubtedly generate attention around the event.
However, the last 10 months have been the worst of Stephens' career. She seemed in a great place after going on a seven-match winning streak in April, including securing the 2025 Rouen Open title during that run.
Unfortunately, Stephens has only managed two wins since beating Elise Mertens at the 2024 Madrid Open in April. Her last triumph was in the opening round of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships and she has lost ten consecutive matches since.
The most brutal of those losses for Stephens came at the 2024 US Open. She led Clara Burel 6-0, 4-1, but was defeated from what looked to be an unassailable position. That moment probably influenced her continued difficulties in the months since.
Reilly Opelka is among the ATP players who have been given a wild card. A few days ago, he withdrew from the entry list, but it turns out that the American only did so because he knew he would be getting a wild card.
Opelka caused a stir recently by calling for the elimination of doubles from tennis. The huge-serving player thinks doubles specialists are failed singles players who do not sell tickets and waste resources that should go to singles.
The first four wild cards announced before the latest batch included Venus Williams. However, confusion followed when the seven-time Grand Slam champion said she did not know about it until the event's statement. Eventually, it was announced that Williams had not accepted the wild card.
Petra Kvitova, who played her first tournament since returning from maternity leave at last week's 2025 ATX Open in Austin, was accurately revealed as a wild card, as was teenage prodigy Joao Fonseca.
Learner Tien, Caroline Dolehide, Mackenzie McDonald, Robin Montgomery, Alycia Parks, Bernarda Pera, Iva Jovic, Nishesh Basavareddy, and Tristian Boyer were the other confirmed wild cards for the Indian Wells Open.
