Virginia Slims of Indian Wells
| Indian Wells Masters | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Tournament information | |||||||||
| Founded | 1974 | ||||||||
| Location |
Indian Wells, California United States |
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| Venue | Indian Wells Tennis Garden | ||||||||
| Surface | Hard (Plexipave), Outdoors | ||||||||
| Website | Official website | ||||||||
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| ATP World Tour | |
|---|---|
| Category | Masters 1000 |
| Draw | 96S / 48Q / 32D |
| Prize money | US$7,037,595 |
| WTA Tour | |
|---|---|
| Category | Premier Mandatory |
| Draw | 96S / 48Q / 32D |
| Prize money | US$6,844,139 |
The Indian Wells Masters, also known as BNP Paribas Open due to sponsorship reasons, is an annual tennis tournament held at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, United States.
Current owner Larry Ellison, CEO and co-founder of Oracle, purchased the tournament and the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in December 2009.
The tournament is a Masters 1000 event on the men's tour and is a Premier Mandatory event on the women's tour. Between 1974 and 1990 it was a major tournament of the Grand Prix Tennis Tour and part of the Grand Prix Super Series. The event, held in March, is one of two tour events (along with the Miami Open), other than the Majors, in which main draw play extends beyond eight days. The women's main draw usually starts on Wednesday and the men's main draw starts on Thursday. Both finals are held on Sunday of the following week. Both singles main draws include 96 players in a 128-player grid, with the 32 seeded players getting a bye to the second round.
The tournament is played on hard courts and is the best-attended tennis tournament outside the four Grand Slam tournaments, with over 450,000 visitors during the 2015 event. It has the second-largest permanent tennis stadium in the world.
Indian Wells lies in the Coachella Valley (Palm Springs area), about 125 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.
The tournament is played in the Indian Wells Tennis Garden (built in 2000) which has 29 tennis courts, including the 16,100-seat main stadium, which is the second largest tennis-specific stadium in the world. After the 2013 BNP Paribas Open the Indian Wells Tennis Garden started an expansion and upgrade of its facilities that includes a new 8,000 seat Stadium 2.
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