Indian Wells entry list released; entire Top 10 headed to Tennis Paradise

All of the Top 10 is headed to the desert to kick off the Sunshine Double at the 2024 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California.

World No.1 Iga Swiatek, World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka and defending champion Elena Rybakina will headline the field at the long-standing WTA 1000 event.

Main-draw play at the combined WTA 1000 and ATP 1000 event will begin on Wednesday, March 6th and will extend all the way to the singles finals on Sunday, March 17th.

World No.5 Rybakina and Sabalenka contested a powerful Indian Wells final last year, with Rybakina claiming a 7-6(11), 6-4 victory and avenging her 2023 Australian Open final loss to Sabalenka. It was the first of two WTA 1000 titles Rybakina clinched last year.

Two-time Australian Open champion Sabalenka is seeking her first Indian Wells title, while top-ranked Swiatek hopes to reclaim her Indian Wells crown from 2022. In her title defense, Swiatek made it all the way to last year’s semifinals before losing to Rybakina.

The top two Americans, World No.3 Coco Gauff and World No.4 Jessica Pegula, round out the Top 5 players hoping to hoist the trophy. Gauff, the reigning US Open champion, reached the Indian Wells quarterfinals for the first time last year. Pegula was a quarterfinalist in 2021.

Ons Jabeur, 2024 Australian Open runner-up Zheng Qinwen, reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, Maria Sakkari and Karolina Muchova make up the rest of the Top 10 entrants. Sakkari was an Indian Wells finalist in 2022 and a semifinalist last year.

All in all, 19 of the current Top 20 are on the entry list. The only Top 20 player missing is two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, who announced her pregnancy on New Year’s Day.

Two former World No.1 players are returning to the desert after missing last year’s edition due to maternity leave: Naomi Osaka (the 2018 champion) and Angelique Kerber (the 2019 runner-up).

Other former Indian Wells champions on the entry list include Paula Badosa, who captured the title in 2021, and Victoria Azarenka, who took the trophy in 2012 and 2016. Daria Kasatkina, who was the 2018 runner-up to Osaka, is one of the Top 20 entrants at World No.14.

Other Grand Slam titlists entered include Americans Sloane Stephens (2017 US Open champion) and Sofia Kenin (2020 Australian Open champion), as well as former Roland Garros champions Jelena Ostapenko and Barbora Krejcikova.

View the full entry list at the BNP Paribas Open’s website here. Wild-card recipients will be announced in the coming weeks.