Emma Raducanu: Will former US Open champion play Indian Wells? Will she get wild card for tournament?

ByEurosport

Updated 29/02/2024 at 16:19 GMT

Will Emma Raducanu play Indian Wells? Will she get a wild card for the WTA 1000? The main draw at Indian Wells starts on Wednesday, March 6. Raducanu used wild cards to enter tournaments in Abu Dhabi and Qatar in February. The 2021 US Open champion, who is ranked at No. 252 in the world, has been given a wild card to play at the Miami Open, which follows Indian Wells.

As one of the biggest tournaments outside of the Grand Slams, Indian Wells will feature a stacked field.

Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina and Coco Gauff are set to be among the leading lights at the combined ATP and WTA 1000 event in southern California.

There will also be a strong British contingent with Andy Murray, Jack Draper, Cameron Norrie, Dan Evans and Katie Boulter in the main draw.

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But will Emma Raducanu be playing the tournament?

The 2021 US Open champion is not currently in the main draw as her ranking position is not high enough for direct entry.

Raducanu is ranked at No. 252 in the world after missing most of 2023 following surgery.

Due to the time she was away from tennis, Raducanu has a protected ranking which she can use to enter tournaments.

A protected ranking is designated to a player when they are injured and unable to compete for an extended period of time. It allows the player on their return from injury to use their protected ranking position to get into tournaments, as their current ranking position after injury would be too low to secure a place in the draw.

• Raducanu's agent hits out at critics
• Murray 'likely not going to play' beyond summer

Raducanu’s protected ranking is 103, which is not high enough to secure a spot in the main draw at Indian Wells right now.

There are 96 singles players who get direct entry into Indian Wells along with 12 qualifiers and eight wild cards.

Two of those wild cards have been given to Caroline Wozniacki and Venus Williams, and it might be that Raducanu is waiting to see if she will get a wild card to play the tournament.

She received wild cards to play the Abu Dhabi Open and Qatar Open in February, and has also been given a wild card to play the WTA 1000 Miami Open, which follows Indian Wells.

Raducanu was beaten in the first round by Anhelina Kalinina in her last match at the Qatar Open.

Speaking about her upcoming plans afterwards, she said: “It's hard for me to get used to the tour schedule.

“It's one tournament then another straight away. I need to schedule my tournaments a bit better and try to get more matches under my belt."

Raducanu has a 3-4 win-loss record this season.

It is likely that Indian Wells will announce more wild cards in the coming days ahead of the main draw starting on Wednesday, March 6.

Murray says he's ‘likely not going to play past this summer’

Andy Murray looks set to compete at Indian Wells for the final time.

The former world No. 1 has said he is unlikely to play beyond the summer after a difficult start to the season that has seen him lose six of eight matches.

Indian Wells is one of two Masters events, along with Monte Carlo, that Murray has not won in his career.

Murray confirmed his retirement is drawing nearer following defeat to Ugo Humbert in Dubai.

Murray says he will ‘likely not play past this summer’, aims to finish at Wimbledon or Olympics

“I'm likely not going to play past this summer," said the three-time Grand Slam champion.

"I get asked about it after every single match that I play, every single tournament that I play. I'm bored of the question, to be honest. I'm not going to talk more about that between now and whenever the time comes for me to stop. But yeah, I don't plan on playing much past this summer."

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