Justine Henin, Carlos Moya And David Nalbandian Headline Wildcard Entries At The BNP Paribas Open

© Getty ImagesCarlos Moya will be making his 13th appearance at the BNP Paribas Open.

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 the BNP Paribas Open, to be held March 8-21 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, it was announced today by Steve Simon, tournament director.

Henin, who won the BNP Paribas Open 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 the BNP Paribas Open 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 the BNP Paribas Open 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 the BNP Paribas Open Challenge tournament, to be held this weekend, March 6-7, at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

For more information about the BNP Paribas Open, or to purchase tickets and travel packages, visit the tickets page, call 800-999-1585 or 760-200-8000, or visit the box office, 78-200 Miles Avenue, Indian Wells, CA, 92210.