BNP Paribas Open: Naomi Osaka receives wild card invite to Indian Wells
Naomi Osaka was ranked 44th in the world when she appeared at the 2018 BNP Paribas Open. She won seven matches at Indian Wells that year, beating top-ranked Simona Halep in the semifinals, to win the biggest tournament of her career.
Since then, Osaka has won four Grand Slam titles and reached the top ranking in the WTA. But it’s been three years since she last played at Indian Wells.
Osaka is expected to end her brief Indian Wells hiatus next month at the BNP Paribas Open. The tournament announced Wednesday that it has awarded Osaka a wild card entry into the main draw.
Osaka, 24, lost to Belinda Bencic in the Round of 16 at Indian Wells in 2019. The tournament was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was moved from March to October last year. Osaka did not play in October’s event.
Osaka, who was born in Japan but raised mostly in the United States, is 11-2 all-time in the main draw at the BNP Paribas Open. In three appearances, she has beaten four players ranked inside the top 25.
Osaka is currently ranked 82nd. She won the U.S. Open for the second time last September and announced that she would be taking some time off from playing. She returned to play in the Australian Open last month and won a pair of matches before losing to American Amanda Anisimova in the Round of 32.
Only the top-ranked players are seeded at the tournament, and wild cards and qualifiers fill out the rest of the main draw. Because she will not be seeded, Osaka could match up with another top player very early in the draw.
The player entry field was revealed by the tournament earlier this month.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Naomi Osaka receives wild card invite to BNP Paribas Open
