Venus Williams, Emma Raducanu receive Miami Open wild cards

MIAMI: Three Grand Slam winners will join a star-studded lineup at the upcoming Miami Open, as Emma Raducanu, Venus Williams, and Caroline Wozniacki have all received wild cards for the tournament.

The trio, who were confirmed as wild-card entries by the organisers, will join a lineup at Hard Rock Stadium that features all of the world's current top ten, led by World No.1 and 2022 singles champion Iga Swiatek, reigning Australian Open winner Aryna Sabalenka, and 2023 Miami finalist Elena Rybakina.

Williams' arrival brings the field to four past singles champions, including Swiatek, Victoria Azarenka, and Sloane Stephens, while Wozniacki was a finalist in 2017. The two former World No.1s will play as wildcards in Indian Wells next week, their first appearance in five years.

Williams, who has been out since the US Open last year due to a knee injury, has stated that participating in Indian Wells for the Sunshine Double is a "big goal" for her WTA Tour comeback in 2024.

Williams last played in Miami in 2021, while Wozniacki last competed in 2019 -- the tournament's first edition at Hard Rock Stadium following a four-decade stint on the island of Key Biscayne -- due to different ailments and a three-year retirement that concluded last summer, respectively.

Raducanu, the 2021 US Open winner, will be making only her third visit to Miami, having previously become the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam singles championship in New York three summers ago. She advanced to the second round in her 2022 tournament debut. The final wildcards for singles, doubles, and qualification will be released in the following weeks. The Miami Open will run from March 17 to 31.