Venus Williams, Petra Kvitova Issued Wildcards For Indian Wells

Grand Slam champions Venus Williams and Petra Kvitova were among four wildcard entrants announced for next month’s ATP and WTA Indian Wells tennis tournament.

Teen ATP stars Joao Fonseca and Learner Tien, who will make their main draw debuts at the venue, were also named to the event, set for March 5-16. Williams is a seven-time Grand Slam champion and former world number one who will make her 10th career appearance at Indian Wells. The 44-year-old American has not played in a WTA event since last March at Miami.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova returns following the birth of her first child. The 34-year-old Czech left-hander gave birth to son Petr last July and makes a 13th trip to the California desert after a 15-month maternity absence.

Fonseca, 18, won his first ATP title at last week’s Argentina Open, becoming the youngest Brazilian to capture an ATP title in the Open era.

Tien, a 19-year-old American, reached the fourth round of the Australian Open last month, becoming the youngest player to reach the second week at Melbourne since Spaniard Rafael Nadal in 2005.