Raducanu receives Indian Wells wildcard

Britain's Emma Raducanu has been given a wildcard for Indian Wells next week.

The 21-year-old is ranked 252nd in the world as she continues her comeback from an eight-month injury lay-off.

American seven-time major champion Venus Williams, 43, and Danish former world number one Caroline Wozniacki have also been handed wildcards for the WTA 1000 tournament in California.

The hard court event, which is one of the biggest outside of the four Grand Slam tournaments, starts on Wednesday.

Raducanu, who shot to prominence with a stunning triumph at the 2021 US Open as a teenage qualifier, is ranked too low for direct entry into the top WTA tournaments.

She missed most of the 2023 season after operations on both of her wrists, as well as ankle surgery, before returning to the tour in January.

A protected injury ranking of 103rd helped the former British number one enter last month's Australian Open without needing to go through qualifying.

But the rule - which allows players to freeze their ranking if they are out for six months or more - has not enabled Raducanu to move directly into the Indian Wells main draw.

She has also received a wildcard to play at the Miami Open which starts on 17 March.

Raducanu, who reached the last 16 at Indian Wells a year ago, has not played since she lost to Ukraine's Anhelina Kalinina in Doha on 12 February.