Raducanu, Venus Williams, Wozniacki receive Miami wild cards

Three Grand Slam champions will add to what’s already a star-studded field at the Miami Open, as Emma Raducanu, Venus Williams and Caroline Wozniacki have all been awarded wild cards for the tournament. 

The trio, announced a wild-card entries on Thursday, joins a field at Hard Rock Stadium that includes all of the world’s current Top 10 — led by World No.1 and 2022 singles champion Iga Swiatek, reigning Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka, and 2023 Miami finalist Elena Rybakina.

Williams’ addition makes it four former singles champions in the field — the three-time winner joins Swiatek, Victoria Azarenka and Sloane Stephens in the draw — while Wozniacki was a finalist in 2017. The pair of former World No.1s are set to appear at Indian Wells next week as wild cards, also for the first time in five years. 

Sidelined since the US Open last summer as a result of a knee injury, Williams recently dubbed competing at Indian Wells for the Sunshine Double as a “big goal” for her 2024 comeback to the Hologic WTA Tour. 

Williams last played in Miami in 2021, while Wozniacki last was in the draw in 2019 — the tournament’s first edition at Hard Rock Stadium after a four-decade tenure on the island of Key Biscayne — due to various injuries and a three-year retirement that ended last summer, respectively.

2021 US Open champion Raducanu, meanwhile, will be making just her third appearance in Miami — all of which have come after she became the first qualifier to ever win a Grand Slam singles title in New York three summers ago. She reached the second round in her 2022 tournament debut. 

The remaining wild cards for singles, doubles and qualifying will be announced in the coming weeks. The Miami Open will be played from March 17-31.