Joao Fonseca and Learner Tien, who met in the championship match of the 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, have been awarded a main draw wild card into the BNP Paribas Open, the tournament announced Wednesday.
The 18-year-old Fonseca is fresh off becoming the youngest South American to win a tour-level title in the ATP Tour era (since 1990) in Buenos Aires. The Brazilian has taken the circuit by storm, surging from No. 655 in the PIF ATP Rankings one year ago to a career-high World No. 68.
Fonseca, who stunned Top 10 star Andrey Rublev at the Australian Open, will make his debut at the Indian Wells ATP Masters 1000 event. It will be the teen's second tournament in that category, having competed in Madrid last year.
Tien also enjoyed a breakthrough in Melbourne, where he upset Daniil Medvedev in a five-set, late-night thriller. The 19-year-old lefty, who is at a career-high World No. 80, played in qualifying at Indian Wells one year ago. The Californian lost a tight two-setter to Cristian Garin.
The tournament also announced that WTA stars Venus Williams and Petra Kvitova received a wild card into the tournament. Other wild cards will be revealed closer to the event.
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