India's number one ranked women's tennis player Ankita Raina on Tuesday was awarded a wild card entry for the upcoming Chennai Open which is scheduled to be held here from September 12-18.
Along with the 29-year-old, the 2014 Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard of Canada will also be taking part in the WTA 250 tournament as a wild card entrant.
"The wildcards for the 32-player singles main draw have been given to Eugenie Bouchard and Ankita Raina. The two other (wildcards) to be given to anyone in the top-20 willing to come and play here," TNTA president and former Indian tennis player Vijay Amritraj said.
Amritraj said that the wildcards were awarded to both Raina and Bouchard in the women's singles draw as per the WTA rules.
Meanwhile, the India duo of Sharmada Balu and Riya Bhatia were awarded a wildcard in the doubles draw.
Amritraj further said that there has no confirmation yet on whether star tennis player Sania Mirza would feature in the tournament, given the fact that the 35-year-old also pulled out the US Open with a tendon injury.
"I had a long chat with Sania during Wimbledon where she had said that she was going to participate at the US Open and also had a good chance of making it to the WTA Finals which would have made it hard for her to come back to India for the Chennai Open and then go back," Amritraj said.
"But now that she is injured, it does not look like she is going to play at the US Open and whether she will be fit enough to play with us, we will have to wait and see.
"Even if she does not play, TNTA would like to invite and felicitate her for the incredible career that she has had," he added.
Former world number 4 Caroline Garcia of France is likely to be the top-seed in the singles draw, as she stormed back into the top 20 after clinching the Cincinnati Masters, defeating Petra Kvitova in the final.
World number 29 Alison-Riske Amritraj and Belgium's Elise Mertens of Belgium (world rank 32) would be among the other leading names in the fray.