Dokic exploded onto the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour in 1999 at Wimbledon, as a qualifier, when she beat then World No.1 Martina Hingis in the first round. The following years saw multiple Grand Slam semifinal appearances, multiple titles and a top 10 world ranking. An elbow injury derailed the rising star in 2004 and the following three years she hardly competed on the circuit, but her career enjoyed a rebirth at this year’s Australian Open when she reached the quarterfinals, falling to eventual finalist Dinara Safina. She is currently ranked No. 81 in the world, an astonishing climb from her year-end ranking in 2008 of No. 178.

Taylor Dent, a former top 30 ranked star who also has recovered from a career-threatening injury, leads a group of American men that received wildcards into the main draw. He recently returned to the ATP World Tour after recovering from back surgery and won his first match in almost two years at Brisbane in January. John Isner, one of the tallest men on tour at 6’9”, has steadily improved since his All-American career at the University of Georgia and reached the quarterfinals at Auckland earlier this year. Wayne Odesnik and Ryan Sweeting both have continued to improve their world ranking and have USTA Challenger victories at Carson and Dallas respectively. In addition to the Americans, Kevin Anderson of South Africa, who won the first tournament of his career last year in Las Vegas, was also granted a wildcard.

On the women’s side, three American women, Vania King, Alexa Glatch and Melanie Oudin, will join Dokic in the field. King and Glatch, both from Southern California, have good results this year with King reaching the round of 16 at Memphis and Glatch adding the fifth ITF title of her career at Laguna Nigel, California. Oudin, who has won a number of ITF Junior titles over the course of her young career, went 1-1 in USA's 3-2 Fed Cup World Group first round win over Argentina earlier this year.

In addition to the three Americans, a quartet of international stars also accepted wildcards today including former top 20 ranked Indian star and 2009 Australian Open doubles champion Sania Mirza, 2007 Wimbledon quarterfinalist Michaella Krajicek, 2007 Wimbledon Junior champion Urszula Radwanska, and rising junior star Alja Tomljanovic.

Wildcards for the men’s qualifying draw were awarded to Alex Domijan and Lester Cook. Wild cards for the women’s qualifying draw were awarded to Petra Martic, Coco Vandeweghe, Julia Boserup, Asia Muhammad and Angela Haynes. Two other qualifying draw wildcards (one man, one woman) will be given to the winners of the pre-qualifying round of the BNP Paribas Open Challenge tournament, to be held March 7-8 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

For information or to buy tickets, visit www.bnpparibasopen.org, call the Indian Wells Tennis Garden at 800-999-1585, or visit the box office, 78-200 Miles Avenue, Indian Wells, CA 92210.

About the BNP Paribas Open
The first major tennis event of the season on U.S. soil, the BNP Paribas Open features more than 300 of the world’s best men and women tennis players and last year more than 330,000 people attended the event. Tickets are available by logging onto www.bnpparibasopen.org, calling the Indian Wells box office, 800-999-1585 or 760-200-8000, or visiting the box office, 78-200 Miles Avenue, Indian Wells, CA 92210.

About BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas (www.bnpparibas.com) is a European leader in global banking and financial services and is one of the 3 strongest banks in the world according to Standard & Poor’s. The group is present in 85 countries, with more than 171,000 employees, including 131.000 in Europe. The group holds key positions in three major segments: Corporate and Investment Banking, Asset Management & Services and Retail Banking. Present throughout Europe in all of its business lines, the bank’s two domestic markets in retail banking are France and Italy. BNP Paribas also has a significant presence in the United States and strong positions in Asia and the emerging markets.

About BNP Paribas and tennis
In 2008, BNP Paribas celebrated the 35th anniversary of its association with the tennis world. Since 1973, BNP Paribas has been actively involved in this sport, regularly increasing its support locally and internationally for professionals and amateurs, including families, schools and the community.

For the first time in March 2009, BNP Paribas will be the title sponsor of the BNP Paribas Open, known as the Grand Slam of the West in Indian Wells, California. Over the years, BNP Paribas has become the world's number 1 tennis sponsor. The bank has been the official sponsor of Roland Garros for 35 years, title sponsor of the Davis Cup since 2001, the Fed Cup since 2005, the BNP Paribas Masters since 1986 and the Internazionali BNL d'Italia since 2006. BNP Paribas actively supports numerous other international competitions such as the WTA Bank of the West Classic in California and the Monte Carlo Masters Series.