The Merida Open is one of two WTA hard-court tournaments that will be played in the lead-up to Indian Wells. This year, the event will be part of the WTA 500 series, offering lower-ranked players the opportunity to gobble up valuable ranking points.
But the field is quite strong with Emma Navarro and Paula Badosa among the Top 10 representatives. Croatia’s Donna Vekic impressed on her last trip to Mexico–Vekic won the 2022 Monterrey Open.
All the seeded players are ranked in the world’s Top 40 and include Marta Kostyuk, Beatriz Haddad Maia, Maria Sakkari, and Magda Linette.
The tournament has officially announced the list of wild card recipients for the 2025 Merida Open, and it features four names.
Four Players Receive Merida Open Wild Cards
The first wild card in this year’s tournament is Sloane Stephens. The former US Open champion has lifted two of her eight career titles on Mexican soil (Acapulco and Guadalajara). She was a quarterfinalist in the first edition of the Merida Open. Stephens is yet to win a match in 2025 and last played at the Australian Open where she lost in the first round to Aryna Sabalenka.
The second wild card has gone to home player Renata Zarazua. As the only Mexican in the Top 100, Zarazua will be determined to go deeper in this year’s draw. She reached the last eight on debut last year.
The third name on the list is unsurprisingly the defending champion Zeynep Sonmez. The 22-year-old Turk won her maiden WTA title in Merida against the odds. It was a result that helped Sonmez achieve a Top-100 year-end ranking and has since maintained her spot in that group.
The last wild card entrant is World No. 19 Anna Kalinskaya. The Russian is looking to snap a three-match losing streak and is projected to lose a huge chunk of points for exiting the Dubai Championships in the first round (she was defending runner-up points from last year).
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