The second leg of the Sunshine Double is set to be as star-studded as the first.

Following the announcement of the BNP Paribas Open player field earlier this month, the Miami Open announced its direct main-draw acceptances on Wednesday -- and some of the biggest names on the Hologic WTA Tour are slated to play the second of the two consecutive WTA 1000 events held on U.S. hard courts in March.

Hard Rock Stadium won't see a back-to-back champion in 2024, as World No.18 Petra Kvitova -- the 2023 winner -- is missing from the initial acceptance list, having announced her pregnancy on New Year's Day. Kvitova beat Elena Rybakina 7-6(14), 6-2 in last year's final, and fourth-ranked Kazakh will return to Hard Rock Stadium alongside 2022 champion and World No.1 Iga Swiatek, reigning Australian Open champion and World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka, and a pair of Florida natives -- World No.3 Coco Gauff and World No.5 Jessica Pegula -- as some of the top players in the field. 

Gauff and Pegula are also the defending doubles champions, having beaten the team of Leylah Fernandez and Taylor Townsend to win the title 12 months ago. 

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Three-time singles champion Victoria Azarenka and 2018 winner Sloane Stephens are also among the main-draw acceptances, as are 2018 finalist Jelena Ostapenko, 2019 runner-up Karolina Pliskova, and 2022 finalist Naomi Osaka -- who is entered on a protected ranking after her 2023 maternity leave. 

Osaka is joined by seven other players using protected rankings, including two fellow new moms, former World No.1 Angelique Kerber and former World No.11 Anastasija Sevastova, as well as Paula Badosa, Zhang Shuai, Shelby Rogers, Daria Saville and Amanda Anisimova.

Belinda Bencic, now ranked No.44, is also missing from the field having otherwise qualified by ranking; she, like Kvitova, is expecting her first child this year. The last direct acceptance in the women's main draw currently is China's Yuan Yue, the World No.69. 

View the full entry list at the Miami Open's website here. Wild-card recipients will be announced in the coming weeks.