BNP Paribas Open Women's Singles Qualifying Play Begins

Women’s singles qualifying play for the 2015 BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament is scheduled to begin Monday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, with 48 players from 28 nations seeking 12 spots in the 96- player main draw.

Play was to begin at 11 a.m. Admission is free.

Polona Hercog of Slovenia is the highest ranked player in qualifying, 74th on the Women’s Tennis Association singles rankings. She will face former USC standout Maria Sanchez, one of six Americans in the qualifying draw, in the opening match on the Stadium 2 court.

There are no Americans among the 24 seeded players in qualifying. Americans Lauren Embree, Allie Kiick and Jessica Pegula received wild card spots in the 48-player qualifying draw because they were ranked too low to play in qualifying.

Kiick, the 19-year-old daughter of Jim Kiick, a running back on the Miami Dolphins’ undefeated 1972 team, will face sixth-seeded Timea Babos of Hungary in the third match on the Stadium 3 court.

Pegula, the 21-year-daughter of Terry Pegula, the owner of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, will face Shahar Peer of Israel in the third match on Court 2.

Peer was denied a visa in 2009 to play in the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships after tournament organizers expressed concern that her presence would antagonize fans because of Israel’s invasion of Gaza. Protests had occurred when Peer played in a tournament earlier that year in Auckland, New Zealand.

Embree, a former University of Florida standout, will face 44-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan, who first played in this tournament in 1991, the year Embree was born.

Players winning two matches in qualifying will advance to the main draw.

Men’s qualifying play is scheduled to begin Tuesday, women’s main draw play Wednesday and men’s main draw play Thursday.

– City News Service.