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Press Services
Americans Robby Ginepri, Ryan Harrison, Christina
McHale, Alexa Glatch And Bethanie Mattek-Sands Will Also Compete For The
Title
Indian Wells, Calif., March 3, 2010 – 2010 Australian
Open finalist and seven-time Grand Slam champion Justine Henin, former World
No. 1 and Grand Slam champion Carlos Moya, and former World No. 3 David
Nalbandian, headline the wildcard recipients for Indian Wells, to be held
March 8-21 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, it was announced today by Steve
Simon, tournament director.
Henin, who won Indian Wells in 2004, recently returned
to the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour after retiring from the sport in May of 2008.
She came back with a flourish this year, and as an unranked wildcard reached
the finals of her first event in Brisbane and the finals at the Australian
Open. The former World No. 1 will be making her first trip to Indian Wells
since 2006.
Moya, who won the French Open in 1998, became the first
Spaniard in history to hold the World No. 1 ranking in 1999 after reaching
the finals of Indian Wells that year. He is coming back from injuries sustained
in 2009, but will be looking to add to his twenty career titles this season.
Nalbandian, who had hip surgery last spring, is looking to return to the
form that saw him reach a Grand Slam final, capture the ATP World Tour Finals,
and finish ranked in the top ten for five consecutive years. Earlier this
year he reached the quarterfinals at Buenos Aires. This will be his eighth
trip to Indian Wells.
Two Americans, Robby Ginepri and Ryan Harrison, join
Moya and Nalbandian as wildcards in the men’s field. Ginepri, a former
top 20 ranked player who reached the US Open semifinals in 2005, has three
career titles on his resume. Harrison, a rising 17-year old star, played
in his first Grand Slam event at the Australian Open earlier this year, falling
in the first round in five sets. Two years ago he became the tenth player
in the history of the ATP World Tour to win a main draw match before his
sixteenth birthday and currently he is the youngest player in the top 300.
There remains one more men’s wildcard to be awarded.
On the women’s side, three American women, Christina
McHale, Alexa Glatch and Bethanie Mattek-Sands, have been granted wildcards.
McHale, a talented 17-year old, reached the second round of the US Open last
year and was a member of the US Fed Cup team that won its first round match
against France a month ago. Glatch, a California native, has five ITF titles
on her resume, and reached the third round at Indian Wells last year.
Mattek-Sands, who has won seven doubles titles in her career, including three
last year, was also a member of the US Fed Cup team last month, winning both
a singles and doubles match en route to victory.
In addition to the Americans, four international stars
also accepted wildcards including former top 20 Australian star Alicia Molik,
five-time winner on Tour Eleni Daniilidou, Austrian Tamira Paszek, and rising
junior star Alja Tomljanovic.
Wildcards for the men’s qualifying draw were awarded
to Vince Spadea, Filip Krajinovic, Roman Borvanov and Jose De Armas. Wild
cards for the women’s qualifying draw were awarded to Coco Vandeweghe,
Alison Riske, Anastasia Pivovarova, Sloane Stephens and Julia Boserup. Two
other qualifying draw wildcards (one man, one woman) will be given to the
winners of the pre-qualifying round of Indian Wells Challenge tournament,
to be held this weekend, March 6-7, at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
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