Women’s qualifying play begins at BNP Paribas

Women’s qualifying play begins today in the 2012 BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament, with 48 players seeking 12 spots in the 96- player main draw.

Greta Arn of Hungary is the top seeded player in qualifying and will face 17-year-old Madison Keys of Boca Raton, Fla., in a first-round match set to begin at 10 a.m. on the Stadium 2 court. The 32-year-old Arn is 70th on the Women’s Tennis Association rankings, while Keys is 255th.

Keys defeated Jill Craybas, 6-2, 6-4, in a first-round match in the U.S. Open Aug. 29, then lost to 27th-seeded Lucie Safarova, 6-3, 5-7, 4-6, in a second-round match two days later.

The draw for women’s main draw will be held at 3 p.m. at Corona Plaza. Admission for qualifying play and the draw ceremony are free.

Men’s qualifying play is scheduled to begin Tuesday.

Women’s main draw play is scheduled to begin Wednesday and men’s main draw play Thursday.

The tournament is scheduled to run through March 18.

Information and tickets are available by visiting our special section on the BNP Paribas.